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OUR 
HERITAGE 

(A ROMANCE OF THE SIERRAS) 
IN FIVE BOOKS 

by 
THOMAS E. KEPNER 




Boston 
HE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 



$ 



tfi%« 



Copyrighted, 1914 

By 

THOMAS E. KEFISTER 
Rights Reserved 



JUN--I 1914 



8f xro 



©CI.A374950 



THIS WORK IS DEDICATED 

TO 

THE MEMORY OF 

MY MOTHER 



PREFACE. 

The superficial observer, accustomed to weigh 
Literature by avoirdupois, will assert that this 
Work is too brief. 

The intelligent reader will know where to look 
for authorities ; to cite or discuss them would be 
to compile an encyclopedia. John Lord's Beac- 
on Lights of History, comprises fifteen volumes ;, 
Ridpath's Universal History, seventeen ; the Li- 
brary of Original Sources, ten ; the Catholic En- 
cyclopedia, eight ; the Britanica, twenty-nine ; the 
Americana is perhaps equally comprehensive ; Al- 
bert Pike's Morals and Dogma is an extensive 
library of esoteric learning; and yet, in none of 
these, among the great volume of massive works, 
has the attempt to present the drama of our race 
and civilization, either in a continuous or com- 
prehensive way, been made. 

The Individual who might seek to gain a com- 
prehensive view of Man and his destiny from any 
"Five Foot Shelf" would lose his way amid mazes 
of speculative thought, become confused by the 
great mass of immaterial detail, or involve him- 
self in mystic visions, so that the arms, extended 
to embrace what are but formless shadows, would 
return empty to his breast. 

The Author has sought to present the whole 
life story of our race and civilization in clear, con- 
cise, comprehensive language. More than Phil- 
osophy, more than Theosophy, more than Theol- 



PREFACE. 

ogy, more than History, more than Literature, 
the purpose has been to make this work an edu- 
cation ; to interest the candid reader in a continu- 
ous world drama, extending over thousands of 
years of authentic history, interwoven with all 
accessible knowledge bearing on the main theme 
— The Continuity of Individual Life ; a study of 
those principles which have given Man control 
over the forces of nature; principles, which en- 
able the Individual to master himself; prin- 
ciples, which make nations great ; principles, 
which have made history ; principles, which make 
•civilization possible; principles, which every In- 
dividual should know in his efforts to make him- 
self, his family, his country, better, happier, wis- 
er. 

So long as Ignorance, Misery, and Vice shall 
continue to afflict mankind, Books, like this 
never can cease to be of general interest. 

If the purpose has been substantially accom- 
plished, the fifteen years of continuous applica- 
tion required to prepare this manuscript have not 
been spent in vain. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS 





BOOK I. 




Vin 


CHAPTER 




I 


Nevada 


II 


His Wanderings 


III 


What He Thought 


IV 


Self-Reliance 


V 


The Ocean of Time 


VI 


Two Great Schools 


VII 


Religion and Theology 


VIII 


Necessity of Religion 


IX 


World Knowledge 


X 


The First Form of Government 


XI 


Primitive Legal Conceptions 


XII 


I am Debtor 



BOOK II. 
Egyptian Achievements 

I Irrigation 

II Western Civilization arose in Egypt 

III The Power of Thought 

IV The Esoteric View 

V As Seen by the Adepts 

VI The Poison of Material Prosperity 

VII The Disintegration of States 

VIII Moses, the Adept 





BOOK III 




Marie 


CHAPTER 




I 


The Hebrew Commonwealth 


II 


The Decalogue 


III 


Woman Equal to Man 


IV 


The Family 


V 


Administration of Justice 


VI 


The Mosaic Law and Evolution 


VII 


The Judgeship 


VIII 


Recreation 


IX 


The Kingdom of Solomon 


X 


The Temple of Solomon 


XI 


The Mysteries 


XII 


Know Thyself 


XIII 


The Cross 


XIV 


The People of Ephraim 


XV 


The Kingdom of Israel 


XVI 


The Essenes 




BOOK IV. 




The Anglo-Saxons 


I 


Recognition 


II 


The Germans 


III 


Their Religion 


IV 


Their Influence on Modern Society 


V 


Their Conquest of England 



CHAPTER 




VI 


Alfred the Great 


VII 


The Truth Shall Make You Free 


VIII 


The Norman Conquerors 


IX 


Roman Jurisprudence 


X 


England Under Foreign Kings 


XI 


Love is Eternal 




BOOK V. 


/ 


American Institutions 


I 


The Colonial Period 


II 


The Revolutionary War 


III 


The Constitution 


IV 


Separation of Church and State 


V 


The Greatest Century 


VI 


The Universal Law 


VII 


Vin and Marie 



BOOK I 
VIN 



NEVADA 15 

CHAPTER I. 
NEVADA. 

Seated in the seagrass chair which he had 
brought from Hongkong, on the open veranda 
overlooking the river, Vin gazed with growing 
admiration at the sparkling water of the Truckee 
hurrying from its source in beautiful Tahoe to 
its rest in Pyramid lake, more than two thousand 
feet below. Vin wished that he might plunge 
into the crystal water of that ice-cold stream, for 
the ride across the desert from Las Vegas had 
been long and tedious, the reflected rays of the 
June sun had heated the Pullman car almost to 
suffocation, while the finely powdered alkali dust 
had burned his eyes and entered every pore. 

Twenty-odd miles to the southwest towered 
the snow-crowned summit of Mount Rose. A 
score of miles to the northwest Peavine mountain 
reared its lofty crest. In the opposite direction, 
thirty-five miles away, Mount Davidson was 
plainly visible. Look where he would, the beau- 
tiful valley of the Truckee seemed to* be entirely 
er closed by mountain peaks and ranges, having 
the suggestion of other and higher peaks and 
ranges beyond. 

The sun had just passed below the western 
range. The higher peaks were gorgeous in the 
r?ys of the setting sun. The valley of the 
Truckee was filled with a radiant mountain 
twilight. A kingfisher darted from his tree on 



16 OUR HERITAGE 

Belle Isle, and with a shrill cry of triumph 
plunged into the stream, then arose and flew 
away with an evening meal for himself and mate. 
The scent of newly mown alfalfa was in the air. 
The clouds, slowly rising over the western range, 
soft as down, were resplendent in all the colors 
of the rainbow. The sky above was azure blue. 
The air soft and balmy. 

Reclining in his chair, Vin thought about the 
history of the great State in which he had 
decided to make his home. Nevada, the battle- 
born state ! Nevada, admitted into the sisterhood 
of States on the day when he first saw the light 
(began his present incarnation) in far-away 
Minnesota. Admitted as a State, in order that 
her vote might make sure the ratification of the 
work of the Immortal Lincoln. Nevada, with her 
mighty expanse of desert lands, waiting for some 
Moses to strike the rock that the life-giving 
waters might gush forth, calling into existence a 
million prosperous, happy homes. Nevada, with 
her lofty mountains, her barren crags, bristling 
with volcanic rock, dreary and desolate as "The 
Orthodox Hell with the fires out", — yet indescrib- 
ably magnificent and grand. Nevada, with her 
vast fertile valleys, her beautiful sunlit lakes and 
mountain streams, and her rich mines ! Nevada, 
empire wide from east to west, empire long from 
north to south ! All this appealed to Vin. He re- 
membered that when the Nation was in dire dif- 
ficulty and distress, when the national treasury 
was exhausted, when bonds of the government of 
the United States, bearing seven and one-tenth 



NEVADA IT 

percent interest, sold in front of the capitol at 
Washington for forty-three cents on the dollar, — 
that Nevada, great, generous sister that she was, 
opened her exhaustless storehouses and poured 
more than a billion gold and silver dollars into 
the resources of the Nation, and brought victory 
out of defeat. That, after the war was over, 
Nevada renewed and increased her bounty. Her 
vast metalic wealth inspired the people of this 
nation with that enthusiasm which produced an 
era of industrial and commercial enterprise such 
as the world had never before seen. It built and 
equipped great trans-continental railroads ; it 
established great ocean steamship lines ; it laid 
the Atlantic cable; it spanned the globe with 
telegraph and telephone lines ; it hastened the 
resumption of specie payments; it built costly 
castles in Europe ; it built great cities in our own 
land ; and, it made San Francisco the voluptuous 
queen of the Pacific. That, then, the blight of 
demonetization fell across this country, and 
Nevada slept. Slept ! for nearly thirty years. 
Slept! until the bray of Jim Butler's burro 
sounded the discovery of Tonopah, of Goldfield, 
of Manhattan, of Ely, of National and other 
great mines. But, Vin reflected that, gold and 
silver are no longer the only nor even the 
principal wealth within her borders. That, the 
dining-car had been supplied with plums, peaches 
and figs from Pahrump, with lettuce and toma- 
toes from Las Vegas, with cantaloupe from Ma- 
son Vallty. He looked to Yerington and to Ely, 
the greatest copper camps in the world ; he looked 



18 OUR HERITAGE 

to Fallon and to Lovelock, to all the places in 
this great State, where irrigation and agriculture 
are becoming a principal factor in the industrial 
life of this commonwealth, and he said : "Impor- 
tant as has been her mineral production, 
exhaustless as her wealth seems in that regard, 
the production of fruit and grain will make 
Nevada great !" 

Nevada has made .men famous in law and in 
literature, in finance and in statesmanship. Her 
early senators were giants in the councils of this 
Nation. She fixed in history the names of Fair, 
Flood, Jones, Mackay, Ralston, Sharon, Sutro, 
Stewart, Mark Twain, and many others, and on 
the Comstock, in Nevada, were written the 
mining laws of this Nation, — the fairest and best 
of any statutes on that subject in the world. 

Although Vin had only been in the State for 
a few months, he felt strangely at ease in his new 
surroundings. He loved Nevada for what she 
has wrought, for what she is, for that which she 
is destined to become. 



HIS WANDERINGS 19 

CHAPTER II. 
HIS WANDERINGS. 

Vin was fifty years of age. He did not 
appear to be more than thirty-five. He believed 
that his present existence was but a continuation 
of many which had preceded it. In the full vigor 
of mature manhood, with well-knit muscles, he 
was a tireless walker, a clever boxer, a fine horse- 
man. And although he was at peace with God, at 
peace with himself and with the world, an indefin- 
able longing filled his breast. He had never loved. 
Still, it was there — Love, aching in his heart; — 
a want which never had been satisfied, never 
could be satisfied until he should find her. 

Born on a farm of Teutonic parentage in far- 
away Minnesota, Vin in due time had graduated 
from the University of his native State. He had 
journeyed far and dwelt in many lands. Passing 
down the valley of the Father of Waters, he 
crossed the stormy Atlantic. The gates of 
Hercules had opened to receive him. Rome had 
given to him of the treasures of her law and 
government. Greece had bestowed upon him the 
riches of her literature and philosophy. Pales- 
tine had surrendered to him the esoteric 
mysteries of her theology. He traversed the Nile 
to its source, and dreamed away the return in 
a house-boat. He stood in the shadows of the 
Pyramids. All along the blue Mediterranean sea, 
Vin saw the indelible imprints of man's past, the 



20 OUR HERITAGE 

glorious monuments of antiquity. He visited the 
site of ancient Babylon, beheld the winding sheet 
of her material greatness, and heard the jackal 
howl amid the ruins of one of the most magnifi- 
cent cities of the ancient world. He sat at the 
feet of the Indian sages, and learned anew the 
doctrines of the continuity, the everlastingness 
of Life, — the Immortality of the Individual Soul. 
Among the first to carry the ensign of the 
Republic into the wilds of the Orient, he had 
followed the indomitable Chaffee to the relief of 
the legations at Pekin. He had absorbed some- 
what of the learning of every land, but whenever 
he thought of making a permanent abode, Vin 
heard an inexorable voice saying unto him, 
"Arise, get thee hence, this is not the place of 
thy habitation." And so, after twenty years of 
travel, of study, of active experience, of reflection, 
Vin came to Nevada. And as he watched the 
sunset hues fade from the tops of the tallest 
peaks, he thought that a State which had been 
so lavish in her bounty to the whole world might 
also be generous to him; that, at last, he had 
found the place to make a home. 



WHAT HE THOUGHT 21 

CHAPTER III. 
WHAT HE THOUGHT. 

Vin watched the silvery moon rise above 
Mount Davidson and listened to that voice which 
Socrates has taught us to use rightly. His 
heart vibrated to its ring. He discerned between 
the voluntary action of his mind, and the invol- 
untary perceptions of his Soul. He had learned 
to watch for and to trust that gleam of Light 
which flashes across the Mind from within, and 
to act upon those involuntary perceptions, know- 
ing that they are true, that they emanate from 
the Eternal; that, like day and night, they are 
neither to be disputed nor gainsaid. The Truth 
which thus came to him would, he thought, come 
to all men whose Minds are open to the Infinite. 
"To believe your own thought, to believe that 
what is true for you in your private heart, is true 
for all men, that is genius." The chief merit in 
any book of genius seemed to him to consist in 
the fact that Books, Creeds, Dogmas, Theories 
and Traditions were set at naught, and that they 
portray not what the dead ages of superstition, 
but what their Author thought. 

Trained in the Roman Catholic Church, it had 
taken him years of time, of thought, of study, of 
reflection, and many a hard-fought battle with 
himself, before Vin became satisfied of the utter 
fallacy of the so-called Christian Religion. He 
had passed through all the gradations from a 



22 OUR HERITAGE 

blind, unreasoning, unreasonable faith — through 
darkness, through doubt, through despair, — out 
of fear, out of superstition, out of servitude, to a 
knowledge of himself, his duty, and his destiny. 

He reflected that there are about one hundred 
and eighty-six different theological denomina- 
tions, which may be classified or grouped as 
follows: Twenty-seven groups comprise one 
hundred and fifty-four of those denominations, 
the remaining thirty being unrelated or not 
subject to classification. Of those groups, there 
are six kinds of Adventists, fifteen sorts of 
Baptists, and four of Dunkards. Some centuries 
ago, the Catholic Apostolic Church was split into 
the eastern and western branches ; the western 
branch, comprising three divisions, namely, 
Roman Catholic, Reformed Catholic, and Polish 
Catholic, whilst the eastern branch consists of 
five divisions. There are seventeen kinds of 
Methodists ; three of Congregationalists ; four of 
Quakers; and an even dozen of Mennonites. 
Manifestly those several theological denomina- 
tions cannot all be right even in their essential 
characteristics. 

Jesus the Essene was a non-conformist. 
Opposing the apparent, he condemned it as 
transient. He emphasized the inner, the real, the 
enduring. He devoted his life to reveal the 
resources of man. He sought to enlighten the 
mind, to enlarge the sphere of his usefulness, to 
increase his influence for good. He sought to 
tell man that he is not dependent, but inde- 



WHAT HE THOUGHT 23 

pendent ; that the individual can and must detach 
himself. 

Man must stand or fall, alone. He must learn 
that by the exercise of his own present powers, 
newer and larger powers, finer qualities, better 
talents are developed. The capacity of the 
individual soul is infinite. The man with one 
intellectual talent may gain ten other talents. 
Men are not born, some with great, others with 
little, Souls. Whilst the physical body is little 
or big according to the law of Nature, the 
essential Man is divine or human, generous or 
mean, spiritual or sensual, virtuous or vulgar., 
immortal or mortal, as it pleases — Himself. 

Sometime or other, Man will appreciate his 
importance. Arising, he will stand uprightly. 

Physically, Man is weak. His years are 
comparatively few. For ages, the human race 
stood as helpless as a child in the presence of 
the great natural forces. Gradually, reason 
awoke ! Slowly, the mind developed. By slow, 
timid, timorous, feeble, faltering steps Man 
journeyed out of Bondage, out of Fear, out of 
Superstition, out of Servitude, he learned that he 
could conquer the Ocean, and harness the light- 
ning, and subdue the air, and rule the land, until 
now Man stands absolute master of all the vast 
physical forces above, and around, and beneath 
him ! Forces, which were once worshipped as 
Deities ! Why, then, should we stand in awe of 
the traditions of the past? 

Man has yet to learn his worth. He has yet 
to learn that as a rational, thinking, volitional 



24 OUR HERITAGE 

being he is responsible for his own Soul, and 
answerable for his own actions. The real man 
does not expect aid from on high. Man has yet 
tc learn that through all the ages of the past 
there never has been, neither will there ever be, 
a substitute. Life is not lived by proxy. The 
individual cannot shift his responsibility. He 
must live his own life, recognize the facts of 
Nature, carry his own burdens, meet his own 
destiny, and answer for his own conduct. He has 
yet to learn that he is not responsible for the real 
or imaginary conduct of Adami, and that the 
virtues of Jesus of Nazareth cannot be trans- 
ferred to him. Then, he will realize that the 
consequences of a wrongful act cannot be 
avoided. Then, too, he will recognize that those 
consequences — the invisible police, the unseen 
avengers, — accept no gifts, hear no prayers, are 
not to be deceived by cunning nor deluded by 
sophistry. Then, he will be ashamed to rely 
lupon the virtues of any other, even if it were 
-possible to do so. Then, he will begin to realize 
that the best and most sublime character of 
history — the great among even the Great Lights 
of the Race, — is merely an example of that which 
all may become. 

The Individual is not dependent upon the 
conduct or will of another for his virtues, neither 
is any other responsible for his failure to' measure 
up to the best that is in him. A debt may be 
paid. A slave may be bought! A dog may be 
led ! A horse may be driven ! But where is 
there a Man who can be Bought, or Driven, or 



WHAT HE THOUGHT 25 

Led? "J esus P a *d it all" used to be a popular 
hymn : He paid the price which the world has 
exacted from all great thinkers since the dawn of 
civilization. 

Sometime or other, Man will realize that Life 
is his very own : To have and to hold, to increase, 
and to recreate in his own physical body. Eternal 
Life ! The first of all things, the essence of all 
things! That priceless jewel, which the great 
mass of so-called Christian people throw away — ■ 
like swine trample pearls in the mire, — and when 
it has gone, pray for Eternal Life from on High ! 
What Blasphemy ! If, therefore, one claims to 
know and speak of God, and carries you back- 
ward to the phraseology of some old moldered 
temple, in another country, in another world, 
believe him not. It is so much easier to quote 
scripture than it is to Think. 

Sometime or other, Man will have done with 
abject deference to the past. Perhaps the 
greatest error of Theology consists in its failure 
to recognize the fact that it is dealing with Life. 
Not Death, Life ! The dress which fits a doll 
today, will fit it a thousand years hence, but the 
garments of the child are soon outgrown and 
must be laid away. There is a childhood period 
of peoples, no less than of individuals. Law, 
Language, Literature, the Arts, the Sciences, and 
all the infinite and intricate institutions of the 
State have had their formative and evolutionary 
periods. Theology, among all the departments 
of human thought, alone remains bound to the 
traditions of the past. In the great march of 



28 OUR HERITAGE 

humanity, there is, and ever must be, a constant 
putting away of childish things. 

Change and progress is the universal law. It 
is the Law of Life. 

Every orthodox clergyman agrees not to 
change. He makes a contract with his Church 
not to find Truth, and promises to deny it if he 
does. The Clergyman is not allowed to think. 
He must walk the straight and narrow path 
trodden by the ignorance and superstition of the 
past. He must confine himself to the traditions — 
the fall of man, the expulsion from the garden, 
the scheme of salvation, the second birth, the 
atonement, the happiness of the saved and the 
misery of the damned. On those occasions when 
he might be expected to say something to 
enlighten his hearers, the average clergyman 
contents himself with telling a story which has 
no point or purpose other than to create laughter. 
Admit that Moses was great: Did he have any 
patent on greatness? Assume that Solomon was 
wise: Did he wear out Wisdom? Suppose that 
Jesus of Nazareth was virtuous : Did he exhaust 
virtue ? 

Whence, then, this Worship of the Past! 



SELF-RELIANCE 27 

CHAPTER IV. 
SELF-RELIANCE. 

RELY ON YOURSELF! 

The Will of each Individual is like the compass 
of a ship. Where the Will points there the Life 
goes ! "If the needle directs it to the rocks, there 
is wreck and disaster, — if to the open sea there is 
clear sailing-." God leaves each Individual at 
perfect Liberty. The Individual is neither 
constrained nor compelled. He must himself 
learn the way of right and wrong, and having 
learned, must choose. "We injure ourselves. 
God will not injure us. We invite our own 
miseries. God does not send them. The evils 
and sorrows that afflict mankind are of mankind's 
own making." 

The relations of Man to the Divine are too 
pure to be profaned by the intervention of any 
other. The Individual needs no intermediary in 
order that he may know himself. He requires no 
substitute in order that he may see and know 
God. 

When the Individual is true to those construct- 
ive principles which condition Life on this planet, 
even as a flower or a tree is true to those laws 
which condition its growth, when he knows him- 
self, old things drop away. Teachers, Texts, 
Traditions crumble and fall. All things are new. 
He lives, now. Past and Future merge into the 
Present. He lives in the Eternal ; has Eternal 



28 OUR HERITAGE 

Life, now ; a thousand years are but as yesterday. 
Knowing that there is no Death but Change and 
Progress, he keeps things under his feet. He no 
longer says, "I Believe." He says, rather, "I 
Think !"— "I Know !" He lives his Life, but not 
in any conventional manner or appointed way. 
The power which he has himself developed is 
new. The way is new. And, as he pursues his 
course, he does not perceive the footprints of any 
other. The way, the thought, the Life is wholly 
new; they are his very own. 

"What a piece of work is Man ! How noble in 
Reason ! How Infinite in faculty ! In form and 
moving, how express and admirable! In action, 
how like an Angel ! In Apprehension, how like 
a God !" 

He asks nothing; hopes nothing; fears nothing. 
He scorns appearances. His power is cumula- 
tive. All the past, the foregone days in which he 
has toiled and thought, work their strength in 
this. None can come near him without his 
consent. None can harm or wrong him, except 
himself. He is indifferent to riches and the 
purely material advantages of the world ; his Life 
does not consist in the things which he possesses. 
He is as happy in poverty as in wealth ; no less 
happy in wealth than in poverty. Independent 
of criticism, he cares not for esteem. He devotes 
his time and energy to the highest ideals of Life, 
and is animated by the most unselfish purposes. 
And he knows that should he so far fail in his 
effort as to permit selfish and immoral purposes 
to influence his thought or conduct, he will 



SELF-RE LIASTCE 29 

thereby lose his spiritual development and forfeit 
his power. This law of Nature has been demon- 
strated, again and again. There is no known 
exception. It is as true as the fact that an elec- 
trical engine will stop when the current which 
runs it is disconnected or grounded. As true, as 
is the fact that an eagle, soaring high in the sky, 
will fall to earth when it ceases to exercise the 
energy which enabled it to reach that altitude. 
As true, also, as is the fact that a man in the full 
strength and vigor of manhood will lose his 
health, if he violates the laws of hygiene or 
ceases to exercise. 

Vin was not anxious to talk ! 

He appreciated the motive which prompted the 
old Egyptian philosophers to conceal their most 
profound knowledge from the multitude ; to 
communicate it only through emblems, forms, 
and symbols ; and even in such indirect and 
obscure manner to communicate it only to those 
who had been duly approved and initiated; for, 
they rightly recognized the narrow limitations of 
the popular mind, — the bigotry and prejudiced 
opinion of the uninformed. 

What the ignorant do not understand, they 
scoff at. They seemingly imagine that by sneers 
they can drown the voice of reason ; or perhaps 
supposing that they thus show superiority 
instead of idiocy. And it has been due to this 
that many of the greatest discoveries of science 
and philosophy were not communicated to the 
world until recent years. "Light rays" and 
"Wireless telegraphy" were known and their 



30 OUR HERITAGE 

importance fully appreciated by the Egyptian 
adepts, thousands of years before the "Creation" 
a? fixed by Usher; and many of them used the 
"Violet Ray" in their laboratory work, as electric 
energy was doubtless employed in the construc- 
tion of the Pyramids. But if they had made their 
scientific attainments known to the multitude of 
their day and generation, the Mob, urged on by 
the popular priesthood, would have torn them to 
atoms ; just as the great teachers of mankind 
have been persecuted, destroyed, and crucified. 
In the time of Galileo, the Theological School 
would not believe that the Earth moves round 
the Sun ; and, if any one had then asserted that 
messages could be sent from a station on land to 
a ship in mid-ocean, or from one ship to another 
at a distance, without any visible means of 
communication, in all probability, he would have 
been put to torture and death as a deliberate 
prevaricator, as a vain babbler, a corruptor of 
youth, and a setter-forth of strange gods ! 

For many thousands of years, the Theological 
School, so ignorant, so proud, so self-sufficient, 
so vain, resting so secure in its "infallible" tradi- 
tions of the past, aided by despotism, prevented 
any general knowledge of the simplest scientific 
facts. The history of the conflict between a few 
brave men and women of genuine inspiration and 
genius, on the one side, and the great, ignorant, 
Theological mass, on the other, has been 
admirably written by Andrew D. White. During 
that contest between Science and Faith, the few 
appealed to Reason, to Liberty, to the Known, 



SELF-RELIANCE 31 

to Justice, to Honor, to Friendship, to Love, and 
to Truth; the many appealed to Fear, to Igno- 
rance, to Miracle, to Passion, to Prejudice, to 
Superstition and to Servitude. The few said, 
"Think." The many shouted, "Believe." 

With precisely equal obstinacy, the average 
man and woman lives today in the most profound 
ignorance of himself, of his own latent powers 
and possibilities, because he will not take the 
time or the trouble to understand himself, to 
know himself, and comprehend the essential 
elements of that mental science which would 
enable him to understand his own Life, and to 
master those principles by which he may develop 
his spiritual powers, and thus improve his condi- 
tion on this planet. 

The experience of those who have attempted 
to communicate such knowledge to the unin- 
formed has not been such as to encourage others 
to make the attempt. Uniformly they have been 
persecuted and condemned by a popular mob, 
incited to violence by Bigotry and Envy, by Fear 
and Ignorance, by Jealousy and Superstition. 
Thus Socrates was condemned ! Thus, Jesus the 
Essene was crucified! Thus, Galileo was 
imprisoned ! Thus, Kepler was persecuted. 
But, their Thought still lives, will live through 
the ages. And so, for many centuries, it 
has been customary for those having superior 
knowledge of spiritual things, of Man and his 
Destiny, to conceal it. And whilst they live 
exemplary lives, in subordination to civil govern- 
ment and its laws, as good citizens, they have 



32 OUR HERITAGE 

been wont to preserve the most profound silence 
regarding their knowledge, and hence, when they 
pass on, their experience and knowledge goes 
with them. The world receives but little benefit 
from their superior knowledge. They leave none 
to carry forward the torch which they have so 
laboriously lighted. They live rather as specta- 
tors of the progress and decay of Nations, and 
put forth no effort to make confidantes, converts, 
or disciples. 

Vin thought that men and women of genuine 
genius and inspiration should be brave enough 
to live for the future. 

WILL HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF? 

Certain it is that the same disintegrating and 
destructive influences, the same selfishness, the 
same love of power, the same struggle for place, 
the same ignorant theological mass, the same 
disregard of the rights and privileges of the 
people, the same immense wealth in the hands 
of a few members of society, the same abject 
poverty on the part of the many, accompanied by 
the same systematic effort on the part of the the- 
ological school to gain control of the forces of 
government, which destroyed Egypt, Phoenicia, 
Babylonia, and other ancient states, are now 
actively at work in the fairest portion of the 
western hemisphere. Should America escape the 
fate of all the nations which made antiquity 
illustrious, it will be due in the main to the cour- 
age, the energy, the intelligence, the self-reliance 
of a few brave men and women of thought and 



SELF -RELIANCE 33 

genius. "An institution is the lengthened 
shadow of one man ; as, the Reformation of 
Luther; Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of 
Wesley ; Abolition, of Clarkson ; Scipio, Milton 
called, 'The height of Rome;' and all history 
resolves itself very easily into- the biography of 
a few stout and earnest persons." It is to Individ- 
uals, rather than to the united efforts of many, 
that all the milestones of progress, reached by 
humanity struggling toward Light, are due. 

Of the whole of mankind, probably not one in 
ten thousand has any aspiration beyond the daily 
needs of the body. For the many, in this age as 
in all others, in America as elsewhere, God, Soul, 
Spirit, Life, Immortality, are mere words, 
conveying no real meaning. For the many, God 
is only Bel, Moloch, Zeus, or at best, Osiris, 
Methras, or Adonai, under another name, wor- 
shipped with the old Pagan ceremonies and 
ritualistic formulas. It is the statue of Olym- 
pian Jove, worshipped as the Father, in the 
Christian Church that was a Pagan Temple. It 
is the statue of Venus become the Virgin Mary. 
The vast majority of mankind, now as through- 
out the ages, do not really believe that God is 
either just or good. They fear his lightning. 
They dread his wrath. The many only imagine 
that they believe that there is Life beyond the 
tomb. Yet they persecute those who profess a 
superior knowledge to that which they, at best, 
only think they believe, because it is incompre- 
hensible to them. To the vast majority of 
so-called Christian people, God is the reflected 



34: OUR HERITAGE 

image, in infinite space, of the earthly tyrant on 
his throne; only infinitely powerful, his wrath 
more implacable, his methods more arbitrary and 
irscrutable. To curse humanity, the human 
tyrant need only be, in fact, that which, in every 
age, the Theological School has pictured God. 
All over the world, in America as elsewhere, 
there are Creeds, Dogmas, Ritualistic Forms, the 
best of which are only less objectionable than the 
v/orst. They have little that is true, nothing that 
Hs Divine in them. The Theological School has 
ever postulated as God something more cruel, 
more relentless, more revengeful, more wicked 
and treacherous than the most arbitrary tyrant 
that ever sat on a throne; something like Nero, 
something that delighted in sacrifice, rather than 
a better, more beautiful, more just, more loving, 
more virtuous being that Man. 

The Life and Work of Jesus the Essene, pre- 
sented one of a long series of suggestions that a 
Gospel of Love might be better adapted to the 
welfare of the world than a ruthless creed of 
'crime, greed, hatred, sorrow and vengeance; and 
yet, for seventeen long centuries, the teachings 
of Jesus — the Gospel of Love, the Fatherhood of 
God, the Universal Brotherhood of Man, — 
became the Theology of Hate and Strife and 
Turmoil, until the basic principles of that 
doctrine are almost entirely absent from the 
practice of the Christian Church, and with the 
result that the Creed is losing its influence. 
Clergy and Laity alike no longer believe what 
they profess. The proof is that they no longer 



SELF-RELIANCE 35 

live as though they believe it. "By their acts, ye 
shall know them." 

So Vin thought. 

After the heat of the day, the night wind blow- 
ing down the valley of the Truckee seemed so 
cold that he had drawn his rug about him, and 
gazed at the bare gray crags of Peavine moun- 
tain, which presented an ever changing pano- 
rama in the silvery sheen of the moon silently 
rising toward the zenith. The mountain air was 
a tonic. Nowhere in his travels, along the Medi- 
terranean sea, in the Garden of Allah, in the 
shadows of the Himalayas, in the Orient, or on 
board a liner in mid-ocean, had he breathed such 
air. Clear, and dry, and cool, it seemed to Vin 
that the air currents forming in the frozen zone 
under the Great Bear, moving southward over 
eternal snow and ice, over river and lake, over 
woodland and moor, seasoned by the odor of 
balsam, fir, hemlock, oak, pine and spruce, tem- 
pered by the great Japanese current, are again 
cooled as they cross the High Sierra and pour 
like an elixir of life into the beautiful valley of 
the Truckee. The air filled his lungs without any 
conscious effort of breathing, as it thrilled and 
invigorated every fiber of his being. 



36 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER V. 
THE OCEAN OF TIME. 

We stand upon the Shore of the Great Ocean 
of Time. The waves roll in with an infinite 
sweep and bring to us, now and again, from the 
vast treasuries of philosophical and religious 
thought, which lie buried in the unfathomable 
caves of that unbounded sea, a shell, a pearl, a 
gem of deepest and purest ray. We do well to 
gather these lessons of the Ages, ponder them as 
best we may, listen to the mighty voices as they 
come to us in broken and fragmentary cadence, 
whispering from the great bosom of the past. 

If the people of this generation were now 
spending their first day on earth, among the 
many wonders of the world upon which they 
might gaze would be the blue, over-arching sky, 
and greatest of all objects would be the far-off 
sun, silently moving, as it would seem, across the 
heavens ; and, as the day passed, they would 
observe that this ball of light and warmth was 
slowly sinking down into the west. With what 
peculiar feelings would they note that fact? How 
all eyes would watch the close of the first day ! 
And as plain, lake, river, and mountains began 
to grow dim and take on fantastic shapes in the 
twilight, and the air began to grow chill, with 
what fear and trembling would they look into 
each other's eyes, and clasp each other's hands 
in the darkness! And doubtless there would be 



THE OCEAN OF TIME 37 

prophets of evil who would say, "It is the first 
and the last day', never will there be another." 
But, suddenly, looking up, they would behold a 
new sky, the heavens beautiful with myriad 
shining stars; the silvery Moon following the 
course of the departed Sun. And there might be 
those who would say, "Beautiful as is the night, 
there will be another and more glorious Day !" 
And thus they would wonder and speculate about 
the splendor of the day that had gone, about the 
night which was passing, and hope for another 
day, until, the long hours of doubt and fear and 
hope wore away, and the East grew light, and 
the Sun came up like thunder; and, then, they 
would shout and dance with joy that another 
day of Life and Light had come. And whilst 
they might quake with fear at the next approach 
oi darkness, in the process of time they would 
harn to trust the darkness as well as the light, 
and they would soon say, "It is only those who 
do not know who quake with fear when the Sun 
goes down." And, knowing nothing of the 
orderly course of the universe, there might be 
those who would attribute the rising and setting 
Sun to the will or caprice of some being more 
powerful than Man. Such might say that the Sun 
rose because of the shouts of joy and dancing of 
the people, and so in the process of time a class 
would develop whose duty it would be to dance 
and shout and sing at the approach of dawn; and 
as time passed they would assert that without 
such intervention of song and dance there would 
be no Sunrise and no day. Thus would come into 



38 OUR HERITAGE 

existence a theological class. Others there would 
be who would make the assertion that the Earth 
and Sun, the Moon and all the Stars were gov- 
erned by fixed and unchangeable laws, and that 
no song or dance could affect in any degree the 
orderly course of the Universe. 

Similarly, if the people of this generation were 
living their first year on Earth, with what joy 
would they have passed the Spring, and the warm 
growing days of Summer; but with what dread 
fear and foreboding would they look upon the 
dying grass and the falling leaves ! With what 
apprehension would they observe the days grow- 
ing shorter and shorter, and the nights longer 
and colder! With what trembling would they 
behold the Sun daily falling towards the South, 
as winter gradually settled down with its pierc- 
ing cold, its mantle of snow, and frost and ice. 
And when chill November's surly blast made 
field and forest bare, the prophets of evil, fit 
progenitors of the theological class, would say: 
"Everything is dying." In the bleak days of 
December, they would say : "Everything is dead." 
Whilst there might be others who would assert 
that, "As day has followed night throughout the 
year that has gone, so Spring will follow Winter." 
And thus would they wonder and speculate as to 
whether ever again the flowers would bloom and 
the birds sing! 

This is not our first day or our first year. 

We have passed through many days and nights 
and years. Many, divers and uniform the 
changes which we have witnessed in our several 



THE OCEAN OF TIME 39 

incarnations. We have watched the seasons 
come and go. We have witnessed the years 
follow each other in their ceaseless onward 
march. We have seen the centuries come and go. 
And back of us, beyond the pale of our individual 
memories, lies the accumulated experience of the 
thousands of generations of our race, who have 
thought and toiled, suffered and triumphed, 
known victory and defeat in the long battle of 
the ages. We know that long, long ago the 
Egyptian sages discovered many of the laws of 
the Universe; that their careful and continuous 
daily observations, through thousands of years, 
enabled them to tell exactly when the Sun would 
rise or set, when the vernal equinox would come, 
when the days would begin to grow shorter and 
the nights longer; when the eclipses of the Sun 
and the Moon would occur; and which would be 
the morning and the evening Star at any season 
of the year. But, whilst they calculated days and 
years and vast periods of time with accuracy, 
they constructed no satisfactory theory of the 
Universe because they regarded the Earth and 
not the Sun as the centre of the solar system. 
They regulated the calendar of our year, deter- 
mined the longest and the shortest day, as well 
as that day in March and September when day 
and night are of equal length. To them, this 
Earth was the center of the universe. To them, 
there were no other worlds peopled, perhaps, 
with living beings, to divide the care and atten- 
tion of Deity. To them, the world was a great 
plain of unknown, perhaps inconceivable limits, 



40 OUR HERITAGE 

and the Sun, Moon and Stars journeyed above it, 
to give them light. 

The worship of the Sun became the basis of all 
the religions of antiquity. To them light and 
heat were mysteries, as indeed they are to us. 
Because, the Sun caused the day, and his absence 
the night; because, when he journeyed northward 
Spring and Summer followed in his footsteps, 
and when he returned southward, Autumn winds 
and inclement weather, and long, dark, cold 
nights ruled the earth ; because, his influence pro- 
duced the leaves and the flowers, and brought 
regular inundation, and ripened the harvests, the 
Sun necessarily became to them the most inter- 
esting object of the material universe. To them, 
he was the innate Life of bodies — the Life of 
Nature. Author of Life, the Sun was the efficient 
cause of all generation, for without him there was 
no existence, no form, no movement. He was to 
them indivisible, immense, imperishable, and 
everywhere present. It was their need of Light, 
of his creative energy, that was felt by all primi- 
tive men, and nothing was more fearful to them 
than the absence of the Sun, whether caused by 
an eclipse or by night. The beneficent influences 
of the Sun caused his identification with the prin- 
ciple of Good ; and the Brahma of the Hindus, the 
Mithras of the Persians ; and the Athom, Amun, 
Phtha, and Osiris of the Egyptians ; the Bel of 
the Chaldeans ; the Adonai of the Phoenicians ; 
the Adonis and Apollo of the Greeks were but 
personifications of the Sun, the regenerating 
principle, image of that fecundity which perpet- 



THE OCEAN OF TIME 41 

uates and recreates the world's existence. So, 
also, the struggle between the good and evil 
principles were personified, as was that between 
Light and Darkness, Life and Death, destruction 
and recreation, in allegories and fables which 
poetically represented the apparent course of the 
Sun, who-, descending toward the South, was 
figuratively said to be conquered and put to 
death by darkness — the genius of evil ; whilst, 
returning again towards the North, the Sun 
seemed to them to be victorious over Death — to 
rise again from the tomb. This figurative Death 
and Resurrection of the Sun were also symbolic 
of the succession of Day and Night, of Light and 
Darkness, of Life and Death of the Individual, — 
o t Death which is a necessity of Life, and of Life 
which is born of Death. And everywhere the 
ancients saw evidences of the contest between the 
two principles which, to them, ruled the world. 
Everywhere this contest was embodied in alle- 
gory, fable, and fictitious history, into which they 
ingeniously wove all the astronomical phenomena 
which accompanied, preceded, or followed the 
different movements of the Sun, — day and night, 
the changes of season, and the approach or with- 
drawal of inundation. 

Thus grew into stature and fantastic propor- 
tions those fabulous histories of the contests 
between Typhon and Osiris, Hercules and Juno, 
the Titans and Jupiter, Ormuzd and Ahriman, 
the rebellious Angels and Deity, the Evil Genii 
and the Good, and other like fables, found not 
only in Asia, but in the north of Europe, and 



42 OUR HERITAGE 

among the Aztecs and Peruvians of the western 
hemisphere, carried thither, in all probability, by 
those Phoenician voyagers who bore there their 
arts and civilization. Thus, too, the Scythians 
lamented the death of Acmon ; the Persians that 
of Zohak conquered by Pheridon; the Hindus 
that of Soura-Parama slain by Soupra-Muni; as 
the German Druids did that of Balder torn to 
pieces by the Blind Hother. 

* * * * 

The idea of infinite space existed in the first 
men, as it now exists in our age. It, and the idea 
of infinite time, are the first innate ideas. It is 
impossible to think how thing can be added to 
thing, how event can follow event, forever. The 
idea ever returns that, no matter how extensive 
the bulk, no matter how long the chain of events, 
there must be, still further onward, an empty 
void, without limit, in which nothing is. In the 
same way, the idea of time without beginning or 
end forces itself upon the mind. Time without 
events is also an empty void. It is nothing. In 
that empty void space primitive man felt intui- 
tively that there was no Light no Life. They 
felt, what we know scientifically, that there must 
be a thick darkness there, accompanied by an 
intensity of cold of which we have no conception. 
Into that cold darkness they supposed the Sun, 
the Planets, and the Stars went down, when they 
seemed to set under the western horizon. Dark- 
ness, to them, was an enemy, a harm, a vague 
dread or fear, an unknown terror; the very em- 



THE OCEAN OF TIME, 43 

bodiment of the principle of evil, out of which, 
they supposed, darkness was formed. And so, 
as the Sun bent southward toward that cold void 
of darkness, they shuddered with fear ; and when, 
at the coming of the winter Solstice, the Sun 
commenced his northward march, they rejoiced 
and feasted; as they did at the summer Solstice, 
when he seemed most to smile upon them in his 
pride of place. Those days have been celebrated 
as feast days for many thousands of years. The 
Roman Catholic Church has made them Holy 
Days of Obligation, and appropriated to them the 
two Saints John. Masonry has done the same. 
And that day in April when the soft zephyrs play 
among the branches, when the grass begins to 
come forth, and the dull gray trees prepare their 
new garments of green, they celebrated as the 
Day of Life, the resurrection from the tomb of 
darkness and death. The Christian Church, 
Protestant as well as Catholic, has seized upon 
this ancient day of Life and appropriated to it the 
name — Easter Sunday ; the day on which Jesus of 
Nazareth was said to have been raised from the 
Tomb. And whilst these and other great festi- 
vals are still celebrated, the reasons which caused 
them to be first recognized have ceased to be re- 
membered. 



44 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER VI 
TWO GREAT SCHOOLS. 

From the very earliest times of which we have 
any record, down to the immediate present, two 
opposing psychological forces have been engaged 
ir> an active and seemingly irreconcilable conflict 
regarding the Status — the rights, the privileges, 
the immunities, nay, the Liberty and correspond- 
ing responsibility, of the Individual, as well as 
regarding Humanity in the aggregate. The one 
has been moved to action by the most unselfish 
Love of Humanity. The other has been 
animated by a spirit of greed and the Love of 
Power. The one has ever taught that Truth, and 
Truth alone, can make Man free; and that the 
Individual must thus become free before he can 
hope for happiness, here or hereafter. The other 
has emphasized belief in its dogmas as the 
universal panacea for all the ills which flesh is 
heir to. The one has ever sought to break the 
bonds of Fear, Ignorance, and Superstition which 
bind mankind. The other has constantly striven 
to strengthen those bonds. The one has sought 
to accomplish its purpose by means of a broad, 
liberal, non-sectarian, universal Education, until 
all men, everywhere, may be able to see, to 
understand, and to appreciate the vital fact of 
Humanity — the fact that Liberty, — personal, 
political, psychical, spiritual, intellectual Liberty, 
— is not only a right or privilege, inherent in 



TWO GREAT SCHOOLS 45 

every individual, but that there is also an imper- 
ative and paramount duty resting upon the In- 
dividual to exercise that right, to discharge that 
obligation. The other has opposed any such 
form of Education, well knowing that, if per- 
mitted, it would shatter its assumed authority 
and relieve mankind from its dominating influ- 
ence. The one has evolved certain plain, practi- 
cal, simple principles, defining a straight and nar- 
row path, along which the Individual may jour- 
ney out of Darkness, out of Doubt, out of De- 
spair, out of Fear, out of Superstition to a 
Knowledge of himself, his duty, and his destiny; 
and whereby, continuing his individual efforts, 
he may bring his Life into Harmony with those 
principles which condition the evolution of Life 
on this planet, the unerring result of which is the 
development, within his own Soul, of a knowl- 
edge of Spiritual things, accompanied by the 
absolute and abiding conviction that his In- 
dividual Life is immortal. The other has offered 
mankind an easy, a subtle, a seductive method of 
substitutional atonement by means of which the 
Individual who will submit his life to its domi- 
nating influence, believe only that which he is 
told to believe, and abide without question by its 
assumed authority, is given the promise that he 
may thus escape the consequences of his own 
actions; that he may thus evade Nature's law of 
personal responsibility ; that he may thus nullify 
the law of retributive justice and shift the burden 
of his own wrong-doing from his own Soul to 
that of the soulless organism of which he is a 



46 OUR HERITAGE 

part. The one of these forces is called 
Fraternity; the other, Dogmatic Theology. 
Their differences are fundamental. 

Fraternity has much in common with Religion, 
as defined by Saint James, the brother of Jesus 
the Essene, "To relieve the widow and fatherless 
in their affliction, and to keep unspotted from the 
world." 

The basic principles of the societies of anti- 
quity which practised the Great Mysteries, the 
three Pillars of the Temple at Jerusalem, the 
essential doctrines of the Essenes and the Druids, 
as well as the Great Fraternal Societies of our 
own times, all represent the same Truth, under 
different names : Faith (in God, in Humanity 
in the aggregate, and in ourselves in particular) ; 
Hope (That Light will overcome Darkness, that 
Truth will vanquish Error, that the day will come 
when the universal law of Love will bind man- 
kind in a world-wide, united Brotherhood, — a 
brotherhood composed of both men and women) ; 
and CHARITY (relieving the necessities, toler- 
ant of the errors, the faults, the mistakes of our 
fellows) ; these have been and are the basic prin- 
ciples of Fraternity, everywhere. For, as an old 
writer said, "He only is wise, who judges others 
Charitably ; he only is strong who is Hopeful, and 
there is no Beauty like a firm Faith in God, in 
our fellows, and in ourselves." 



RELIGION AND THEOLOGY 47 

CHAPTER VII. 
RELIGION AND THEOLOGY. 

During the childhood of a people, Religion is 
largely a superstition, a fear, a dread of the 
unknown. It is largely sensuous, pictorial, 
objective. Under despotic forms of government, 
the Church was allied to the political and military 
fcrms of government, was frequently cruel and 
oppressive, and bent the leligious sentiment of 
the people to its will. In an age of Art, religious 
sentiment found expression in paintings, in stat- 
uary, in costly temples and great cathedrals. In 
an age of credulity, Religion became an unques- 
tioning Faith. In times of debate it became a 
Creed or Dogma; but, in an age of reason, 
Religion has become a philosophy. 

The line of demarcation between Religion and 
Theology cannot be too sharply drawn. Between 
them is a great gulf. Change and Progress, 
the law of Life, is also the law of Religion. 
Latin Theology, which forms the basis of doc- 
trine of the Christian Church, Protestant and 
Catholic, is based upon the alleged sin and fall of 
Man, the total depravity of our first parents, the 
tradition of a substitutional atonement, the 
dogmas of time probation, endless punishment, 
and the rest of it. It is based, also, upon the 
slander and shame of motherhood. 

It may seem strange that after thousands of 
years of experience, of study, of debate, that the 



48 OUR HERITAGE 

great questions, so vitally affecting- the welfare of 
humanity, are still unanswered. The reason has 
been suggested. The superstitions of the unciv- 
ilized races, the fear of natural forces, the dread 
of the unknown, must give place to more intelli- 
gent conceptions. The giving up of the old and 
passing on to the new is the slow work of centu- 
ries. The childhood period, which found help in 
the objective, the pictorial, the sensuous, must 
give place to reason and to the intuitions of the 
intelligent Soul, must pass from outward forms 
and ritualistic ceremonies to inner duties, and to 
those conditions of the Mind and Heart which 
constitute character. And, as the process con- 
tinues, Religion must pass from the external, the 
formal, and the coercine to the authority of 
Truth. The unquestioning faith of credulity 
must listen to the voice of Reason, accept the 
facts of History, and look Philosophy squarely in 
the eye. In Religion, as in all else, the Individual 
must give to himself a reason for the hope that 
is in him. 

The Dark Centuries of the Christian era taught 
that the Earth was flat and stationary; the sky, 
a loof; the stars, countless gems, and we can 
hardly conceive now how utterly incredible must 
have seemed the statements of the Copernican 
astronomers. Nor is it strange that the Theolog- 
ical School fought for its old theory. To give up 
that seemed to them like surrendering an impor- 
tant bulwark to the powers of darkness. Then it 
was that the Christian Church began to ossify, to 
crystalize into Dogma. Then, Creeds were form- 



RELIGION AND THEOLOGY 49 

ulated and placed before the people to be accepted 
on pain of persecution, excommunication, eternal 
torment and eternal death ; but, as authority to 
enforce temporal punishment weakened, the 
better thinkers accepted a broader and larger 
view. 

And although the controversy still goes for- 
ward, it has changed somewhat in its character. 
Once, Vin remembered, the controversy was 
between Methodists and Presbyterians, between 
Baptists and Congregationalists, and between 
Protestants, as a class, and Roman Catholicism. 
Now, all these are making common cause in 
defense of the Latin Dogmas. Protestant and 
Catholic alike accept Latin Theology and its 
Dogmas of the Sin, and Fall, and Total Depravity 
of mankind, of the Atonement, built upon that 
Sin and Fall, a sort of moral bankruptcy or insol- 
vency provision expiring by limitation of time. 
The essential difference being that the Roman 
Catholic Church extends the benefit of that pro- 
vision for those of its children for whom proper 
financial arrangements can be made, and for a 
time at least, into the future life beyond the 
tomb ; whilst the limitation is fixed by the ortho- 
dox protestant churches at the moment of the 
change called Death, and beyond that, there is 
for the departed, no possibility of reformation, 
repentance or salvation. And this very marked 
similarity of essential belief explains the fre- 
quency with which so many preachers of the 
Episcopal Church have passed over to the Cath- 
olic. It also explains the tendency of the Protest- 



50 OUR HERITAGE 

ant Churches toward Roman Catholicism. And 
thus is Latin Theology, both Protestant and 
Catholic, making common cause in resisting the 
doctrines of the early Christian Church at Alex- 
andria, on the one hand, and on the other, it is 
trying to resist the attacks of skepticism and 
infidelity which Latin Theology has not only 
called forth, but has actually made necessary in 
the interests of Truth. 

A belief in God is fundamental to Religion; 
but the conception one forms of the Supreme 
Ruler, the Grand Architect of the Universe, has 
much to do with the strength or weakness of his 
position. When it was thought that this Earth 
was the center of the Universe, that the Sun was 
but a little ball of Light passing round it, there 
was not much difficulty in thinking of a being 
who had made it, and who dwelt beyond the sky, 
and that everything had been arranged in a 
purely mechanical way by such larger and more 
powerful being. Now, all that has gone. The 
solid sky has dissolved into infinite space. The 
• Sun has become more than a million times larger 
*tl-an the Earth. The Stars, receding into meas- 
ureless depths, have become centers of vast sys- 
tems until, instead of one Sun, we have millions 
•of Suns and many of vast size. Astronomers tell 
us that Cirius is two hundred times larger than 
our Sun ; that the nearest fixed Star is twenty 
million miles away, and that the next but one is 
forty millions of miles distant from our Earth. 
That, the little nebulous spot in the constellation 
Hercules is found, under the most powerful glass, 



RELIGION AND THEOLOGY 51 

to be a vast stellar system comprising some four- 
teen thousand suns. 

Such Facts as these make it difficult, if not 
impossible, to think of a God outside of Nature, 
who made and rules all these countless systems 
of Suns and Worlds. But, that is merely one of 
the absurdities of Latin Theology ; and it is that 
very absurdity which has shattered the faith of 
the present age in the existence of God. 

But it is not difficult to think of the order of 
the Universe, of the existence and continuity of 
natural forces, for these L.re everywhere manifest. 
Neither is it difficult to think of Life and Love, 
of Reason, Justice, or Truth, for these are known 
to and a part of ourselves. Life knows Life; 
Love knows Love; Reason knows Reason; Jus- 
tice knows Justice ; and Truth knows Truth : and 
in knowing these larger facts and finer qualities, 
one begins to know the Great Architect of the 
Universe. Not an Angry, Arbitrary, Distant, 
External, Outside Being, but God in Nature and 
in Man; God in Life and Love, in Justice, in 
Reason, and in Truth. And, as the Universe is 
infinite, so we suppose that these principles and 
qualities are also infinite; and yet, they are ever 
present, nearer to us than we are to our dearest 
friends. They are ourselves. Hence we are of 
God. It does not yet appear what Man is des- 
tined to become. 

From such a standpoint Atheism is impossible. 

So far as Latin Theology is concerned, one may 
or may not be able to persuade himself to believe 
in some external, physical conception of an 



52 OUR HERITAGE 

infinite personality; but the facts of the Uni- 
verse, the orderly course of Nature and Nature's 
law, of Life and Love, of Justice, Reason and 
Truth everybody may readily afhrm ; and, in 
affirming these, we affirm the immanency of God, 
for God is Life, and God is Love. That is Greek 
Theology. That was the teaching of Clement. 
That is Scripture. That, also, the Truth as 
taught by Jesus the Essene, and all the other 
Great Lights of the race through all the ages of 
Man's past. 

God is in every law of Nature. In Nature's 
great book we see the Wisdom, the Strength, the 
beautiful Harmony of the Great Architect of the 
Universe. God is in the Reason, the Love, the 
Life of mankind. And it is because this is so 
that Man has, or ever could formulate any idea 
of God. And the whole plan and purpose of the 
psychological force called Fraternity is to enable 
man to develop and unfold the Divine in himself, 
tc enable the Individual, by his own voluntary 
act, to become in his measure like the Divine, to 
become perfect, even as his "Father in Heaven is 
perfect." And in this, we see the purpose of a 
Bible and a Church, of Prayer, of Song, and of 
the Sabbath. But these do not make a Religion. 
Religious sentiment calls them forth. They aid 
in the true development and happiness of man- 
kind. And here we see the need of Faith, the 
confidence, the hope, the trust which leads the 
Soul to rest upon the True and the Good. Here 
we see the necessity of repentance, of turning 
fiom Error to Truth, from Darkness to Light, 



RELIGION AND THEOLOGY 53 

from Death to Life. Here, too, we see what 
prayer is, the communion of Truth with Truth, of 
Justice with Justice, of Love with Love, of Life 
with Life, of the Soul with the Infinite. 'Prayer 
is the heart's sincere desire, uttered or unex- 
pressed." It is the receptive and longing attitude 
of the Individual seeking the Beautiful, the Good, 
the True. 

There is nothing so rational, so real, so near, 
so true, so helpful, so Divine as Religion when it 
is understood. The Soul that has this knowledge 
has Eternal Life now, and is filled with its peace, 
its joy, its hope; it lives in the eternal and knows 
that the physical change called Death is only 
Change and Progress. 

From these broader and larger views, the 
Latin Dogmas of Original Sin, Substitutional 
Atonement, Time Probation, Endless Punish- 
ment, and the Slander and Shame of Motherhood 
drop away as unworthy of God, and hence un- 
worthy of Man. And the Souls that have such 
knowledge move on to the endless future of cul- 
ture, of doing, of evolution, of life, of growth and 
happiness. 

Hell is here. It is wherever error and wrong 
are. It will last for each Soul until it has been 
t?ught in the stern school of adversity and expe- 
rience, and the discipline of sorrow and suffering, 
and won by Love and Truth it turns to the Light, 
that Light which lighteth every man that cometh 
into the world, and then its heaven begins, imper- 
fect and lowly it may be, but the path is open 



54 OUR HERITAGE 

towards Light, towards Life, towards Love and 
Truth. 

Against such just and rational views of Relig- 
ion the Dogmas of Latin Theology, Infidelity and 
Atheism seem alike impotent and powerless. The 
Religious teachers of our age owe it to them- 
selves, to the present age, to the myriads who 
will come after us, to teach a truer Religion than 
any the world has known, in order that Humanity 
may be won to Truth, to Faith, to Hope, to 
Charity, to Love, to the Divine. 




NECESS11Y OF RELIGION 55 

CHAPTER VIII. 
NECESSITY OF RELIGION. 

A Nation Without Religion which appeals to 
the Intelligence, the Justice, the Reason and 
Truth of the people is like an individual without 
character. 

Leaving out the Code of Conduct which was a 
supplementary growth, Latin Theology may be 
denned as a theory of original causation. And if 
there be those who, in contempt for the errors 
and follies, in disgust at the political activities 
and corruptions which Latin Theology has 
fostered and made possible in the name of Relig- 
ion, have contracted toward Religion a repug- 
nance which causes them to overlook the essen- 
tial Truth which Religion, considered as a philos- 
ophy, contains ; they would do well to consider 
that however extensive Individual knowledge 
may become, it can never satisfy intelligent in- 
quiry. If, with Spencer, we regard Individual 
Knowledge as a constantly growing sphere, every 
addition to its surface brings the Individual into 
a larger contact with the surrounding unknown 
phenomena of Nature. And throughout all future 
time the Intelligence of this world may occupy 
itself, as now, not only with ascertained phenom- 
ena and its relations to the known, but also with 
that unascertained something which it implies. If, 
therefore, Individual Knowledge cannot monopo- 



56 OUR HERITAGE 

lize Intelligent Thought, if it must always con- 
tinue to be possible for the Intelligent Soul to 
dwell upon that which transcends knowledge, 
there never can cease to be a place for something 
in the nature of Religious Philosophy, since it is 
distinguished from everything else in that its 
subject matter transcends the sphere of actual 
knowledge. 

In a transition period, such as that through 
which the people of America are now passing, the 
Faith of many has been lost. Many no longer 
believe in Latin Theology. To it they can never 
go back. To it they can neither be cajoled nor 
driven back. The only sane alternative for such 
is in some broader and more rational view of 
Religion than any which has been generally 
known. The average American mind is neither 
credulous nor skeptical. It cannot be satisfied 
with the extremely orthodox nor the extremely 
radical positions ; but it is drawn to the larger 
and better middle ground, lying between the 
extremes of Atheism and Agnosticism on the one 
hand and the Latin Dogmas of Original Sin, 
Total Depravity, a Substitutional Atonement, a 
Time Probation, and Endless Punishment on the 
other. And when those antiquated doctrines, 
held alike by Protestants and Catholics, are 
swept away there remain the real basic principles 
of Religion as taught by Jesus the Essene, and 
other Great Lights of the race: the Immanency 
of God in Nature, the Divinity of the Individual, 
Eternal Life, Eternal Love, Eternal Truth. 

And upon these broader and deeper and more 



NECESSITY OF RELIGION 57 

substantial foundations, which the intelligent 
thought of the people of America can readily 
accept, let us trust that there will arise some 
great church, big enough, broad, liberal, and 
loving enough to hold the thinking of all its 
members, strong enough to conserve the Faith, 
Hope, and Charity of the world. 
So Mote It Be ! 




58 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER IX. 
WORLD KNOWLEDGE. 

Thought may be low; it never can be Little. 
To think is to be great. Conduct may be unwor- 
thy ; it never can be insignificant. Every thought, 
every action, affects character and is so much 
cyst into the woild's balance of good or evil. The 
sentiments of beauty, the emotions of Joy and 
Sorrow, of Hope and Love, the principles of 
Justice may seem transient, but they touch the 
eternal. They mean more than all the inanimate 
constellations of space. 

The world in which we live is vast in its extent. 
Its continents and islands, its mountains, valleys 
and plains, its lakes, rivers and oceans are great. 
They are old, yet they are ever new. Man spends 
his years amid these large and impressive mate- 
rial surroundings. He looks forth upon the 
everchanging panorama of Life and beauty. He 
observes the seasons come and go. He hears the 
song of the birds, the sighing of the wind, the 
heavy crash and roll of the thunder and the 
storm. He feels the soft twilight of the desert. 
Dazzled by the splendor of the Sun, he is awed by 
the silvery beauty of the Moon and far-off Stars 
of night. And whilst Man has lived and moved 
and had his being amid these large and imposing 
material surroundings, his moral and mental 
environment are now far more impressive. 

The weakness of Thought has been in its nar- 



WORLD KNOWLEDGE 59 

row limitations. Men have thought of the time 
iti which they lived, of the state, people, or nation 
of which they formed a part. They have thought 
of the Creed under which they were brought up, 
of the form of government under which they 
lived. Hence, Men have thought and labored. as 
Families, as Clans, as Parties, as Races, and now 
and again as Castes or Unions. Frequently they 
have been arrayed one against the other. Indeed, 
for thousands of years there was no comprehen- 
sive Thought; and hence there was no world 
knowledge. The several Nations which peopled 
the Globe, their Thought, their Religion, their 
Governments, their Creeds were strangers. They 
looked upon each other with suspicion. They 
regarded their neighbors rather as enemies than 
as friends. And it is only in recent times that 
anything approaching international friendship 
has been possible and, consequently, only in 
recent times has there been anything like world 
knowledge. 

With these larger mental and moral surround- 
ings, this broader world knowledge, our Age is 
beginning to realize that all History, that all 
forms of Government, that all phases of civiliza- 
tion, all Art, all Philosophy, all Religion and 
all Science are but parts of one grand and contin- 
uous world Drama. Not one continent or ocean, 
but all continents and all oceans ; not one people, 
but all peoples; not one Age, but all Ages; not 
one Philosophy, but all Philosophies ; not one 
Religion, but all Religions which have been 
observed during all the long time in which the 



60 OUR HERITAGE 

countless millions of our race have gone forth to 
toil with their hands and to puzzle their brains 
with the problems of thought, and heart and soul 
have rejoiced and sorrowed, have known victory 
or defeat in strange new scenes where Right is 
ever trying to overcome Error, where Life, Love 
and Truth are ever rising above Death, Envy, 
Doubt, and Despair. 

All these have been necessary in order that 
Civilization might be. 



FIRST FORM OF GOVERNMENT 61 

CHAPTER X. 
THE FIRST FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 

The first form of government was probably 
patriarchal or tribal. The head of a family, or 
tribe growing up out of a family, was ruler, and 
priest, and warrior. He made and administered 
the law; he conducted the religious rites and cere- 
monies, he led the army. Might made right. The 
only security was strength, and the foundation of 
tribal strength consisted in the absolute power 
of the head of the tribe or family. Between 
neighboring tribes armed strife was of frequent 
occurrence, which sometimes resulted in the con- 
solidation of conquered tribes under the rule of 
kings. In the very nature of the case such a gov- 
ernment must be despotic. 

Until the close of the middle ages, the nations 
of Europe were distinctively of this type. The 
foundations of the Roman Empire were military 
and, after the decline and fall of that Government, 
the States that grew up out of its ruins were all 
conducted on a military basis. And whilst the 
industrial pursuits, especially agriculture, had to 
be carried on, such pursuits were subservient to 
the military, and the work was done by women 
and slaves. And although Europe has been in a 
state of armed conflict much of the time since the 
beginning of the Hundred Years War, yet the 
industrial has gradually gained upon the military. 
Agriculture has grown in importance. The 



62 OUR HERITAGE 

mechanical and industrial arts have been devel- 
oped, and have become a powerful factor in 
shaping national and international Thought. 
Disputed boundaries have been settled by trea- 
ties. The rights of Nations, to some extent at 
least, have been settled by agreements of peace, 
instead of being left to the fortunes of war. And 
although the governments of the world, especially 
those of Europe, still maintain large armies and 
navies, the industrial and peace-loving spirit is 
in the ascendancy. And it is impossible to esti- 
mate how much this means in the progress of the 
world. The losses of war cannot be counted. 
The destruction is not alone in property, but in 
the loss of young and vigorous men. Who can 
estimate with accuracy how much of productive 
power, how much of genius, of inspiration and 
scholarship have been ruthlessly cut off by war ! 
All the gentler feelings of Industry, the Pursuits 
of Peace, the Ties of Home, the growing senti- 
ment of the Brotherhood of Man are rising up 
against armed strife. War is now a sad and last 
resort. Other forms of greatness than the mili- 
tary ; other, higher and finer forms of courage are 
now demanded. The world is beginning to real- 
ize that the heroes of peace are needed. Nor are 
they less highly honored than were the heroes of 
war. 



PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS 63 

CHAPTER XL 
PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS. 

Primitive legal conceptions are valuable. They 
contain, potentially at least, all the forms in 
which law has subsequently been developed. 
They are to the student of jurisprudence what 
the primitive crusts of the earth are to the geol- 
ogist. Nevertheless, the study of jurisprudence 
has been conducted much as inquiry in physics 
or physiology was prosecuted before observation 
had taken the place of assumption. Theories — ■ 
plausible and more or less comprehensive, but 
utterly without foundation, such as "The Law of 
Nature" or the "Social Compact" — have univer- 
sally enjoyed preference over careful, patient, and 
systematic research into the primitive conditions 
of society and legal institutions. And they have 
served to obscure the Truth by diverting atten- 
tion from the only quarter in which Truth can be 
found. 

The development of those principles of Liberty, 
Equality, and Justice which are enshrined in the 
Constitution of the United States covers a period 
of many centuries of authentic History. They 
were old when the organic law of our Govern- 
ment was adopted. Old, when the English Bill 
of Rights was established. Old, when the Peti- 
tion of Right was presented to the First Charles 
for his approval. OLD, when Magna Charta was 
wrested from King John on the 15th of June, 



64 OUR HERITAGE 

1215. OLD, when Alfred the Great compiled his 
Code, and thus restored and re-established the 
Common Law. OLD, when the rules of the 
Common Law were formulated in the forests of 
Germany, more than two thousand years ago. 
OLD, when the Mosaic Law was promulgated. 
OLD, as our race and civilization. 

Primitive man could account for sustained or 
periodically recurring action only by presuppos- 
ing a personal agency. The Sun rising or declin- 
ing, (or seeming to them to* do so) was a person, 
and necessarily a divine person. The Earth, 
yielding her increase, was a person and divine. 
The wind and the whirlwind were regarded as 
the Voice of God. Nor were such notions con- 
fined to the material universe, its physical ele- 
ments or manifestations. They obtained through- 
out the realm of primitive Thought : The head of 
a tribe or kingdom, exercising judicial functions, 
was supposed to possess superior or supernatural 
knowledge ; his judgments or decrees were 
regarded as the direct result of Inspiration. 
When conducting the tribal religious rites or 
ceremonies, it was likewise supposed that he was 
clothed with divine wisdom and authority. Rules 
of law were closely interwoven with theological 
precepts from the very earliest times, ascending 
to the most remote antiquity to which the light of 
history or the faint glimmerings of tradition 
reach. Consequently, all offenses, whether law- 
less acts or infractions of theological precept, 
were regarded primarily as Sins ; whether the 
offense were the taking of human life, theft of 



PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS 65 

property, removing a landmark, reviling a parent, 
sacrilege, adultery, or of whatever class, the act 
was regarded as having been committed, not 
against the Individual, not even against the peace 
Ox- dignity of the aggregate community, but 
against the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. 
Thus, the law administered at Athens by the 
Senate of Areopagus was an ecclesiastical Code ; 
whilst at Rome, from a very early period, the 
pontifical jurisprudence punished adultery, sacri- 
lege, and perhaps murder. This Thought finds 
expression in a Psalm attributed to David, 
"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and 
done this evil in Thy sight!" At a later period, 
transgressions which are known to modern juris- 
prudence as "Torts" were elaborated in detail. 
But it was not until recent times that the idea of 
offense against the aggregate community resulted 
in what we now understand as Criminal Law. 
Indeed, the only authoritative statement of Right 
and Wrong to be found in primitive jurispru- 
dence is a judicial decree; not a judgment based 
upon the existence or even supposing the exist- 
ence of a law, nor even assuming that a law had 
been violated, but a decree which was supposed 
to have been breathed into the judicial mind by a 
higher power at the moment of pronouncing the 
judgment or decree. In other words, the patri- 
archal chieftain or king announced the law, 
defined the offense, adjudged the accused guilty 
of having committed it, and imposed the penalty, 
all at the time of pronouncing his judgment or 
decree. * * * * 



«6 OUR HERITAGE 

Passing from this formative period of Society 
and its primitive notions of jurisprudence, we 
approach an era of customary law, where it is 
found that customs, rules, principles or observ- 
ances form a substantive body of law. And it 
may be observed that government here exists 
under the form of aristocracies which were com- 
posed of a number of families, frequently united 
under an actual, sometimes merely an assumed 
blood relationship. Over such an aristocracy, 
there was frequently a king having a merely 
nominal authority; an hereditary general, as in 
Lacedaemon ; a mere functionary, like the Chief 
Archon at Athens; or a formal hierophant, such 
as the Rex Sacrificulus at Rome. 

The important point is that whilst the military, 
the political or civil, and the priestly or sacer- 
dotal orders were more or less clearly defined, 
at the commencement of the aristocratic period, 
the priestly caste eventually became dominant, 
and everywhere the military and political ele- 
ments became either subservient or were entirely 
eliminated as authoritative heads of government. 
The ultimate result at which such aristocracies 
arrived was a king, exercising despotic power, 
limited only by the special privileges and pre- 
rogatives of the priestly caste. 

* * * * 

It is important to observe that society in these 
early communities was everywhere divided into 
two classes, namely, the Initiated and the Pro- 
fane. All ancient peoples practiced the Myste- 



PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS 67 

ries. There were several degrees of Initiation. 
Admission to the first was doubtless quite com- 
mon. It was frequently conferred during the 
childhood of the candidate ; but, the process of 
initiation gradually excluded all except the higher 
officials of government and members of the 
priestly caste from a knowledge of the higher 
decrees, which are commonly referred to as the 
Great Mysteries. Thus, in the process of time, 
the Adepts became a distinct order, devoted to 
the study of law, Philosophy and Religion. 
Indeed, from the very earliest times, all learning 
was esoteric. It was communicated only to the 
Initiates. And when, in the process of time, the 
priestly order or adepts became the sole students 
of Law the claim of divine inspiration for each 
particular judgment or decree, which had satis- 
fied the vanity of the patriarchal chieftain or 
king, was deemed to be inconsistent with their 
dignity. Then it was that the priesthood 
asserted the claim of a Divine Origin for the 
entire body of Law. Then, too, that they first 
claimed a monopoly of knowledge regarding 
those principles of procedure by which contro- 
versies may be determined in an orderly man- 
ner. The law thus monopolized and adminis- 
tered by the Initiates, whether a priestly order, 
an aristocracy, or a sacerdotal caste or college, 
may be termed unwritten or customary law. 

This Era was followed by one of stone-written 
tablets, constitutions or codes. Of those ancient 
compilations, the Code of Hammurabi may serve 



68 OUR HERITAGE 

as an illustration. Scholars tells us that Ham- 
murabi was the Sixth King of the First Baby- 
lonian dynasty. The Code, thus attributed to 
him, consists of a stone of black diorite, about 
eight feet in height. The upper part bears an 
image of the Sun God, from whom Hammurabi 
is represented as having received the laws with 
which the remainder of the Tablet is covered. 
The Code consists of forty-four columns of in- 
scriptions, falling into three divisions, namely, 
PROLOGUE, CODE, and EPILOGUE. Con- 
siderable space is devoted in the Prologue to the 
titles and glorious deeds attributed to Hammu- 
rabi, the value of which consists in the numerous 
references to historical events, as well as to the 
mythological and other interesting allusions 
which it enshrines. 

The Code commences with two sections relat- 
ing to witchcraft, followed by three dealing with 
witnesses and judges. A series of laws regard- 
ing theft, and stolen property in the hands of 
another than the thief, leads to kidnapping and 
fugitive slaves, ending with burglary and brigan- 
dage. Follow the laws relating to land, a series 
which contain provisions relating to the culti- 
vation of fields, responsibility of herdsmen, and 
various sections concerning gardners. Other 
provisions treat of the rights and responsibilities 
of merchants and their agents. Debt and deposit 
are treated with considerable detail. Under the 
subject of marriage are seen provisions punish- 
ing adultery, unchastity and violation ; while pro- 



PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS 69 

visions regarding divorce and separation are 
closely followed by sections regulating the tak- 
ing of a second wife or concubine. The laws of 
inheritance regulate the rights of wife, children, 
servants, and slaves. Another series defines and 
fixes the penalty for assault, murder, and kindred 
offenses; in all such cases, the penalty included 
the fees paid to doctors and nurses, and other ex- 
penses incidental to the recovery or death of the 
injured party. The Code concludes with five 
sections relating to slaves, and is immediately 
followed by the Epilogue. 

This, in brief outline, is the Code of Hammu- 
rabi. It is essentially a collection of commercial 
laws. It is silent regarding those principles of 
Equality, Justice, and Liberty which should con- 
trol in those controversies arising between an in- 
dividual and his government. 

* * * * 

Compilations of law, like that of Hammurabi, 
made their appearance at periods much the same 
everywhere ; not identical dates, but periods sim- 
ilar in regard to the relative development of the 
several communities. Everywhere they were 
given the sanction of Divine Inspiration and 
Theological authority. 

Chief among the advantages which such Codes 
conferred upon their respective communities 
was the protection they afforded against the 
pious frauds of the Theological School. The ec- 
clesiastical element had frequently abused their 
monopoly of customary law, whilst their exclu- 



70 OUR HERITAGE 

sive possession of legal learning and procedure 
had been a formidable obstacle to the success of 
those popular movements which began about 
this time. With the discovery of letters, it was 
found that inscribed tablets offered far better se- 
curity for the accurate preservation of law than 
the memory of a number of persons, however 
strengthened by habitual exercise. Fragments 
of those ancient compilations which have been 
recovered, show that civil, ecclesiastical and 
moral ordinances were mingled with but little 
regard to essential differences. The severance 
of law from morality, and both from theological 
precept belongs to a very much later period of 
human evolution. In other words, the principal 
value of such codes did not consist in any ap- 
proach to systematic classification, to terseness 
or clearness of expression but, rather, in the in- 
formation which they furnished to everybody as 

to what the law was. 

* * * * 

Contrary to the course of events in western so- 
cieties, the sacerdotal element of Old India 
maintained its supremacy for many centuries ; 
and although their legal learning was eventually 
compiled and published in the form of a Code, 
yet their long monopoly of all learning enabled 
the Priesthood to promulgate an ideal system 
which they deemed proper for the instruction of 
their disciples, rather than a body of law which 
ever had been actually observed in Hindostan. 
In other words, the Hindu Code, or Law of 



PRIMITIVE LEGAL CONCEPTIONS 71 

Manu, is in large part an ideal system of what 
its Brahmin compilers believed should be the 
law, rather than a code of law ever actually ob- 
served in Hindostan or elsewhere. 




72 OUR HERITAGE 



CHAPTER XII. 

"I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the 
Barbarians ; both to the wise and to the unwise." 

On one occasion, acknowledging his indebted- 
ness to all the Ages of the Past, Vin was heard 
to say: 

"I am debtor to Aristophanes, to Aristides, to 
Arkwright, and to Alfred; to Buddha, to Barre, 
Burke, Bacon and Bancroft, to Buckle, to Buck- 
ner, and to Blackstone; to Confucius, to Cicero, 
to Clement, Copernicus, Columbus and Cromp- 
ton; to Diodorus, Descartes, Demosthenes, Dar- 
win, and to Draper ; to Epictetus, Euripidas, Edi- 
son, Erickson, and to Emerson; to Fichte, to 
Fulton, and to Franklin ; to Galileo, to Goethe, 
and to Gibbon; to Herodotus, to Hume, and to 
Hugo; to Hubbard, Haeckel, Huxley and Hum- 
boldt; to Isocrates, Isaiah, Ibsen, and to Inger- 
.soll; to Jeremiah, to Jesus, to Justinian, and to 
Jefferson ; to Knox, Kant, and to Kepler ; to Lap- 
lace, Locke, Leibnitz, Lecky, Longfellow, Lu- 
ther, and to Lincoln; to Marcus Aurelius, Ma- 
gellan, Morse, Moses, Mahomet, Montesquieu, 
^and to Macaulay ; to Napoleon and to Newton ; 
I am debtor to Origin, to Pathagoras, Plutarch, 
Plato, Pope, Pindar, Paine, and to Pike; to Rid- 
path and to Rawlins; to Socrates, Stevenson, 
Spencer, and Shakespeare ; to Tacitus, Tyndall, 
Tucker, and to Tocqueville ; to Volta and to Vol- 
taire; to Watts, Webster, and to Washington; 



OUR HERITAGE 73 

to Zurababel, to Zoroaster and to Xenophon — 
Discoverers, Explorers, Historians, Inventors, 
Poets, Philosophers, Scientists, Statesmen, Stu- 
dents, Thinkers ! I am debtor to the myriad mil- 
lions who have suffered and toiled and thought! 
I am debtor to the vast esoteric learning of the 
world! I thank the brave men with brave 
thoughts, and the Mothers who taught them to 
be Brave, Strong, and True ! They are the At- 
lases upon whose broad and mighty shoulders 
rests the grand fabric of our civilization. They 
are the men who have broken and are steadily 
breaking the shackles of superstition! I am 
debtor to all those who have appealed to Reason, 
to Honor, to Law, to Liberty, to Justice, to 
Freedom, to Equality, to the Known, to Life, 
to Love, to Friendship, to Happiness, to Truth, 
,here ! in this world ! I thank them ! They have 
made civilization possible !" 




BOOK II 
EGYPTIAN ACHIEVEMENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
IRRIGATION. 

After a long ramble on a fine day in midsum- 
mer, Vin found himself, late in the afternoon, 
near the summit of one of the tallest peaks of 
Peavine Mountain. The beautiful valley of the 
Truckee, dotted with virgin pine, with ranch, 
orchard, vineyard and meadow, traversed by the 
lordly Truckee, intersected by irrigation ditches 
was spread out beneath him. 

Irrigation is the Life of the arid States. 

The material prosperity of all the nations that 
made antiquity illustrious was based upon arti- 
ficial irrigation of a naturally arid soil. Nature 
furnished the sunshine, and man supplied the 
water. 

All the nations? There was one important ex- 
ception. Through the valley of Egypt flowed 
the great River Nile; its sources in regions for 
centuries wholly unknown ; its course from 
South to North. Observing that the annual re- 
turn of its flood-waters was always preceded by 
the appearance of a beautiful Star, which, about 
the time of the Summer Solstice, appeared in the 
heavens in the general direction of the source of 
the Nile, and seemingly warned the husbandmen 
of the coming inundation, the Star was likened to 
that animal which, by barking, gives warning of 



78 OUR HERITAGE 

danger; and the Star was soon styled Sirius, the 
Dog. 

Long before the era of history, the annual in- 
undations of that river had formed the alluvial 
lands of upper and lower Egypt, which they 
continued to raise higher and higher and to fer- 
tilize by their deposits. At first those inunda- 
tions were calamities but, in the process of time, 
the ancient Egyptians by means of levees and 
drains, artificial reservoirs and lakes, stored 
the surplus waters for the purposes of irrigation 
and, from that time, the waters of the Nile be- 
came blessings which were looked for with joy- 
ful anticipation, as they had before been awaited 
with terror. "Upon the deposit left by the Sa- 
cred River, as it withdrew into its banks, the 
husbandman sowed his seed, and the rich soil 
and the genial sun assured an abundant harvest." 
From Egypt, the science of irrigation was car- 
ried to the region of ancient Babylon and there, 
too, its beneficent uses were recognized and en- 
couraged. 

Assyria grew great because her people learned 
to apply water to desert land. The same was 
true of Greece and of Rome. Through the gar- 
den of Plato flowed a diverted stream of clear, 
cold, sparkling water from the Athenian hills. 
The Lombard kings, following the Roman prac- 
tice, extended and encouraged irrigation in Italy. 
From Lombardy the art was extended to France. 
The Moors encouraged it in Spain, Sicily and in 
Algeria. In Persia, India, and China this form of 



IRRIGATION 79 

husbandry has been practised from time imme- 
morial, and is still continued. The same was 
found to prevail in Mexico among the Azetecs, 
the Toltecs, the Vaquis, and other tribes at the 
time of the Spanish conquest, carried thither, no 
doubt, by those Phoenician voyagers who 
brought there their industries and art; and it 
has remained undisturbed in the jurisprudence 
of that country until now. It existed also in 
Peru. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, we 
read : "I did not repel or set back the waters ; I 
did not turn aside the flowing of a canal. I did 
not soil the waters." 

Thus we see that this is the oldest method of 
skilled husbandry, and probably a large number 
of the Human Race have ever depended upon 
artificial irrigation for their food products. 



80 OUR HERITAGE 



CHAPTER II. 

WESTERN CIVILIZATION AROSE IN 
EGYPT. 

The Greek historians regarded the Egyptians 
as the oldest race of mankind. Herodotus and 
Pathagoras were initiated into the Mysteries of 
the Egyptian Brotherhood; and from the infor- 
mation thus acquired, they made up their esti- 
mate of the antiquity of Egyptian civilization. 
According to their calculations, based upon rec- 
ords kept by the Egyptian Brotherhood, the ac- 
cession of Menes-, founder of Memphis and first 
mortal ruler of Egypt, antedates the year 12,000 
B. C. Prior to the accession of Menes, Egypt 
was said to have been for thousands of years 
under the domination of several dynasties of 
gods : First, the Eight Gods ; then, the Twelve 
Gods; then, Osiris, Typhon, and last of all, 
Horus, who immediately preceded Menes, the 
first mortal king. From the same sources, Plato 
compiled considerable information regarding the 
ancient continent and civilization of Atlantis, of 
which the Azores are supposed to be the only 
visible landmark. 

It is assumed, therefore, to be the concensus 
of authority that Western civilization arose in the 
Valley of the Nile. If there were no other evi- 
dence than that pertaining to the subject of irri- 



WESTERN CIVILIZATION 81 

gation, Vin thought that conclusion would be 
irresistible. 

The secluded position of the singularly fertile 
valley of the Nile enabled mankind to develop a 
civilization which far surpassed that of other 
primitive nations, and with which only that of 
far-off Babylonia, where somewhat similar local 
conditions obtained, could in any degree vie. 
The traditions of antiquity point to two cities as 
the fountains of Human Wisdom — Memphis, in 
Egypt; and Babylonia, of the Chaldees. In the 
Valley of the Nile were no frosts, no storms of 
rain, no snow. There were no forests. There, 
Nature perennially restored the soil with her 
own riches and yielded her abundance without 
much labor. There, the conditions for fixed and 
permanent abodes and agricultural pursuits were 
alone ideal. There, was found no place for the 
vocation of the hunter, the wild flight of the 
nomad, or the silent vigil of the herdsman. Long 
before the era of history, those ancient husband- 
men laid the foundation of the future greatness 
of Egypt. 

Details of the primitve period of Egyptian 
history are meagre. Races, like individuals, have 
but little recollection . of their own infancy. 
Doubtless at a very remote period the aboriginal 
inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile were dis- 
placed by foreign invaders. Perhaps, nomads 
from Asia ; possibly, fugitives from Atlantis. Be 
that as it may, many centuries of development 
and growth, followed by conquest and invasion,. 



82 OUR HERITAGE 

and other periods of growth and development, 
must have preceded the building of the gigantic 
Pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty. During the 
thousands of years preceding the era of authen- 
tic history, the Egyptians progressed so far that 
nothing seemed too difficult for their accomplish- 
ment. The Pyramids bear witness to this. How 
proudly self-conscious must the people have been 
who thus set up a perpetual memorial for them- 
selves. And whilst their passion for the huge 
was relinquished in succeeding centuries, it 
should be regarded merely as an evidence of a 
greater refinement of Life, the grace of which 
still looks forth from the monuments of the 
Fifth Dynasty. 

Then a dark age intervened. 

From the Sixth to the Twelfth Dynasty 
events are shrouded in mystery which, however, 
is gradually yielding to the efforts of modern 
scholarship and is becoming clearer. With the 
dawn of the Twelfth Dynasty the second period 
•of Egyptian history begins. No doubt it was 
during this golden age, comprising some two 
'centuries (from about B. C. 2778 to B. C. 2565), 
upon which the Egyptians of succeeding genera- 
tions looked back as the classic period of their 
literature, that Egyptian arms were first carried 
to remoter lands. Then it was that Nubia be- 
came an Egyptian province, and the gold of its 
deserts thenceforth belonged to the Pharaohs, 
Traditions of this period are embodied in the 
semi-mythical figure of the Great King — Sesos- 



WESTERN CIVILIZATION 83 

tris. According to the traditions of the time, that 
monarch subjugated distant lands to the north, 
but we have little means of knowing how much 
truth there may be in such legends. It seems 
clear, however, that at about that time, the 
Egyptians maintained commercial relations with 
the nations of the Mediterranean seaboard, for 
their dainty vases are found in Egyptian rubbish 
heaps of that period, and may have been import- 
ed into the Valley of the Nile then, as later, as 
receptacles for delicate oils. 

Again, the history of Egypt is veiled in ob- 
scurity. The continuity of the narrative, as re- 
constructed by modern scholarship, is broken. 
She fell a prey to foreign conquerors, and the 
Hyksos long reigned in Egypt as her lords. But, 
gradually the little City of Thebes arose to power 
and mastery, and eventually expelled the foreign 
kings. With the commencement of the Eight- 
eenth Dynasty, Egypt was again free. Then it 
was that that upper Egyptian line established a 
kingdom which rendered the name of Thebes, 
its City, and Amun, its God, forever famous. 
Then dawned the greatest era of material pros- 
perity which the Valley of Egypt ever saw. 

The military expeditions of the great warriors 
of that Dynasty subjugated a region which ex- 
tended to northern Syria and eastward to the 
Euphrates. "Egypt became the neighbor of the 
kingdom of Matanni (or Mitanni) on the Eu- 
phrates, of the rising power of Assyria, of an- 
cient Babylonia." 



84 OUR HERITAGE 

Then it was that the two civilizations, which 
had been developing for thousands of years on 
the banks of the Euphrates and in the Valley 
of the Nile, were brought into direct contact, and 
"we shall hardly be wrong in saying that during 
those centuries a great part of the civilized 
world, whose heirs we are, then met together in 
common life." And whilst the Egyptians had 
been wont to consider all other peoples as 
wretched barbarians, they found that narrow 
view untenable when once they had met face to 
face the civilization of ancient Babylon. Trade 
and commercial intercourse exerted a powerful 
influence; and in the long result their traditional 
repugnance for and their fear of foreigners 
passed away, and Chaldean fashions came into 
vogue among wealthy Egyptians. And although 
it is difficult to estimate the effect of Egyptian 
supremacy on the countries bordering on the 
Mediterranean, recent discoveries show conclu- 
sively that great quantities of small Egyptian 
wares, of glass, bronze, and silver were exported 
during that period. And the inference forces 
itself upon the mind that it was then that the in- 
dustrial art of Phoenicia acquired its Egyptian- 
ized style. Then it was that our civilization 
adopted all those things which still play their 
part in our daily lives, the forms of household 
furniture, of columns, of statues, seals, weapons, 
and many other articles which were undoubt- 
edly perfected in the Valley of the Nile, and 



WESTERN CIVILIZATION 85 

which are met with in the oldest Greek and 
Etruscan times. 

During that period of Egyptian supremacy, 
her influence was felt throughout the countries 
bordering the Mediterranean; an influence, of 
which we can now estimate the force only by 
these traces which have survived the ravages of 
time ; and it is a reasonable inference that her in- 
tellectual riches, her customs and laws, her 
poetry and religion, her arithmetical and medical 
skill were no less widely diffused. "If, for ex- 
ample, our Religion tells us of an immortality of 
the soul more excellent than the melancholy ex- 
istence of the shades, the conception is one first 
met with in ancient Egypt; and Egyptian, like- 
wise, is the idea that the fate of the dead is de- 
termined by the life led upon earth. These con- 
ceptions come to us by way of the Jewish 
scriptures, but may not the Jews have obtained 
them from Egypt, the land that bore its dead so 
needfully in mind?" The silent paths by which 
such thoughts have passed from nation to na- 
tion, and from age to age, are, it is true, beyond 
all showing. Again, if much of our Bible reminds 
us forcibly of the proverbial literature of Egypt, 
the idea of seeking its origin in the Valley of the 
Nile is one which readily occurs. Nor is the 
search fruitless. The conclusion that this, as 
well as much else which we have long called our 
own, comes to us from the civilization of ancient 
Egypt can no longer be successfully challenged. 

So Vin thought. 



86 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER III. 
THE POWER OF THOUGHT. 

Thought, like Truth, is Eternal. 

The Thought of the ages of man's past is the 
Law of the Present ; it will be the law of the fu- 
ture. After our physical bodies shall have mol- 
dered away and joined their kindred dust, that 
which shall live, as a part of the great body of 
Truth, is the only Act worth doing, the only 
Thought worthy of expression. And whilst, 
after the physical change called Death, the Soul 
can see and understand and appreciate what 
takes place on this planet, and can watch over 
the welfare of those it loves, its greatest happi- 
ness must consist in seeing its beneficent influ- 
ences widening from age to age, helping to shape 
for good the destinies of Individuals, of States, 
and of the World, its bitterest punishment must 
consist in seeing its evil influences causing mis- 
ery and suffering. 

Because Thought is supreme, because Truth is 
Eternal, the human family is bound together by 
those invisible ties which, in the highest sense, 
do make for Brotherhood. That which other 
men, during the long past, have thought and 
said, and done, forms a vast network of circum- 
stance which conditions and controls us all. 
This is the Choir Invisible. Not one in ten thou- 
sand but takes his Faith on trust. We believe as 



THE POWER OF THOUGHT 8) 

the masters of Thought command us. Individ- 
ual reason seems powerless in the presence of 
authority. The Dead rule. The Living obey. 
In law and in literature, in philosophy and in 
religion, the Thought of the old Egyptian sages 
is still supreme. How important that we cor- 
rectly understand their teaching. 

The development of our law may be likened to 
the growth of a Tree. Although the gourd of the 
Prophet Jonah grew up and withered in a night, 
that Tree which now casts its shadow far and 
wide over the earth has been of slow growth. 
Many, many centuries ago some Egyptian hus- 
bandman with hand or foot covered the seed of 
justice with a little earth and passed, regardless, 
on his journey into the dim twilight of our race. 
He died and was forgotten. The seed lay there 
still, the mighty force within it acting in the 
darkness. A tender shoot stole softly up, and fed 
by the Light, the Air, the Dew put forth its little 
leaves and lived. The centuries marched 
onward. The shoot became a sapling, and its 
green leaves came and went with Spring and 
Autumn. The sapling grew. The dews fed its 
leaves; the birds builded in its small limbs for 
many generations. The centuries came and 
passed away, and Moses, from both written and 
traditional sources, compiled his Code and 
stamped the laws of the Egyptians with the seal 
of divine inspiration. The centuries rolled on ! 
The Hebrew warriors slept in its shade ; our Ger- 
man ancestors met in their Whitenagemot, the 



88 OUR HERITAGE 

Congress of that time, around the Sapling, and 
the Angels and the Saxons carved out a new 
home in Britain. Still the centuries marched on 
with never-ceasing tread! Alfred fought and 
conquered the Danes, restored the Common 
Law, and compiled his Code; William, the Con- 
queror parcelled England out among his lords; 
Richard, the Lion-hearted, fought at Acre and 
Ascalon; and, John's Bold Barons wrested from 
him the Great Charter, and lo ! the Sapling had 
become a Tree ! And still it grew ! Thrusting its- 
great arms wider abroad, lifting its proud head 
ever higher toward the heavens, defiant of the 
storms of political and theological strife that 
roared and eddied through its branches. And 
when Columbus sailed on, and on, plowing with 
his keels the unknown western Atlantic, when 
Cortez and Pizarro bathed the Cross in Blood; 
when the Puritan, the Huguenot, the Cavalier, 
and the Follower of Penn sought refuge beyond 
the ocean, the Great Tree of Justice still stood, 
firm rooted, vigorous, stately, haughtily dom- 
ineering over all the forest, heedless of the long 
centuries that had hurried past since the Egyp- 
tian patriot planted the little acorn in the earth, 
a hale and proud old tree, with wide circumfer- 
ence shading many a rood of ground, fit to 
furnish timbers for a fleet to carry the thunder of 
the Great Republic's guns all round the world, 
and yet, if one could have stood and watched it 
every instant from the moment when the little 
shoot first pushed its way to light, until the 



THE POWER OF THOUGHT 89 

American Eagle builded in its branches, he never 
could have seen the Tree or Sapling grow! 
Indeed, everything which has power to challenge 
the admiration and respect of men must have its 
roots deep in the past, and the more slowly any 
institution has grown, so much the more endur- 
ing is it likely to prove. 

Closely interwoven with the history of our 
law is found the warp and woof of Philosophy 
and Religion. 

Popular worship among the ancient Egyptians 
was very similar to that of primitive man, every- 
where. The great forces of nature were wor- 
shipped as divinities. No ancient people was 
more devout, or more constant in the service of 
the gods, than were the people of ancient Egypt. 
Every town had its guardian deity; even as now, 
in Catholic countries, every town has its patron 
saint. Of course, those local deities (if we may 
be pardoned the expression) assumed a greater 
or lesser degree of national importance with the 
growth or decay of the particular community 
over which they presided. Then, too, as one 
faction became dominant over another, how nat- 
ural for them to emphasize the importance of 
their god! This tendency to boast of the prow- 
ess of a deity finds expression in the Song of 
Miriam ! 

While Memphis was the chief center of the 
Empire, Rah, the Nature God of that City, was 
everywhere recognized as a national deity. 
When the little City of Thebes arose to power 



90 OUR HERITAGE 

and mastery, Amun, the local god of that city, 
assumed an importance theretofore denied him, 
and the compound name, Amun-Rah, thereupon 
came into general use. The names of other pop- 
ular deities were compounded because of a simi- 
lar confusion of their powers and attributes. 
The logical result of all this would be the event- 
ual recognition of one Supreme Deity. 

This Tendency towards Monotheism culmin- 
ated in the effort, made toward the end of the 
Eighteenth Dynasty, under the reign of King 
Amenotep IV, whom later generations charac- 
terized as "The Heretic King," to eliminate all 
the minor gods, and to establish the worship of 
the Sun God as the Supreme and Only Deity. 
The effort was not successful, and the reaction 
which followed left the old religious or theolog- 
ical forms more firmly fixed than ever in the pop- 
ular belief and observance. Nevertheless, this 
event is of transcendent interest and importance, 
since it shows that the idea of Monotheism, 
underlying a great number of popular deities, 
was not only current in Egypt, but it had 
attained to the dignity of official recognition at 
about the time of Moses. 



THE ESOTERIC VIEW. 91 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE ESOTERIC VIEW. 

The Initiates regarded those popular deities as 
mere manifestations of the Supreme Ruler of the 
Universe. We to whom the Universe has 
become but a great machine, not instinct with 
a great Soul, but a clockwork of proportions 
unimaginable, although still infinitely less than 
infinite, and part at least of which, we can imitate 
with our orreries; we, who have measured the 
distances and dimensions, learned the specific 
gravity and determined the orbits of the Moon 
and the Planets; we, who know the distance to 
the Sun and his size, have measured the orbits of 
the flashing comets, and the distance to the fixed 
Stars, and know the latter to be Suns like our 
Sun, each with its retinue of worlds, governed by 
the same unerring laws and outwardly imposed 
forces, centripetal and centrifugal; we, who with 
our telescopes have separated the galaxy and 
nebulae into other Stars and groups of Stars, dis- 
covered new planets by first discovering their 
disturbing forces upon those already known, and 
learned that they all, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Sat- 
urn, and the others, as well as the bright and 
ever changing Moon, are mere dark, dull, opaque 
clods like our Earth, and not brilliant orbs of fire 
and heavenly light; we, who have counted the 
mountains and chasms of the Moon with glasses 



92 OUR HERITAGE 

that could distinctly reveal to us the Temple of 
Solomon, if it stood there in its old, original 
glory; we, who no longer imagine that the Stars 
control our destinies; we, who can calculate the 
eclipses of the Sun and Moon, backward and 
forward, for ten thousand years; we, with our 
vastly increased conceptions of the power of the 
Grand Architect of the Universe, but our wholly 
material view of that Universe itself; we cannot, 
even in a remote degree, feel, though we may 
partially and imperfectly imagine, how those 
great, simple, open-hearted children of Nature 
felt in regard to the Starry Hosts, there upon the 
slopes of the Himalayas, on the Chaldean plains, 
and upon the banks of that great, strange River, 
the Nile. ! 

The Universe, to them, was alive! instinct 
with life; instinct with forces and powers, mys- 
terious and beyond their comprehension ; it was 
no machine, no system of clockwork to them. It 
was a vast creature, an army of creatures, alive, 
and in sympathy with or inimical to man. All 
was mysterious and miraculous to them, and the 
Stars, flashing across the heavens, spoke to their 
hearts almost in an audible whisper. Jupiter 
with his kingly splendors, was emperor of the 
Starry Hosts. Venus looked lovingly upon the 
earth and blessed it. Mars, with his crimson 
fires, seemed to threaten wars and misfortune. 
While Saturn, cold and grave, chilled and 
repelled them. The variable and ever-changing 
Moon, faithful companion of the Sun, was their 



THE ESOTERIC VIEW 93 

constant source of wonderment. The Sun was 
to them the visible emblem of the generative and 
creative power. They regarded the Earth as a 
great plain, over which the Sun, the Moon, and 
the Planets revolved. Of the Stars, some were 
beneficent, bringing with them springtime, fruits, 
and flowers; some, faithful sentinels, advising 
them of approaching inundation, of storm, or of 
deadly winds and pestilence ; some, heralds of 
evil, which, steadily foretelling, they seemed to 
cause. The eclipses of the Sun and Moon were 
regarded as portents of evil, their causes beyond 
comprehension, hidden in mystery, supernatural. 
The journeyings of the Sun, the regular return 
of the Stars, the coming of Arcturus, Orion, Sir- 
ius, the Pleiades and Aldebaren were, to them, 
voluntary, not mechanical. What wonder, then, 
that Astronomy became the most important of 
Sciences, and that those who learned it became 
rulers ; and that vast edifices, the Pyramids, the 
Temple of Bel, and other gigantic structures, 
everywhere in the ancient world, were dedicated 
to astronomical purposes. And what wonder 
that they worshipped Amun, the God of the Sun, 
of Nature, of Light, of Life ! What wonder that 
they personified the Planets and the Stars, and 
eagerly believed the fables invented for them, in 
that age when capacity for belief was infinite, as 
indeed it now is and ever will be. 

And he greatly errs who imagines that because 
the mythological fables of antiquity are all refer- 
able to and have their foundation in the phenom- 



94 OUR HERITAGE 

ena of the Starry Hosts, and all their gods are 
but names given to the Sun, the Stars, the Plan- 
ets, the Zodiacal Signs, the Elements, the forces 
of Nature and Universal Nature herself, that 
therefore they worshipped the Stars and what- 
ever animate and inanimate things seemed to 
them to exercise an influence over human fort- 
unes and destiny. Because, in all Nations, 
ascending to the remotest antiquity to which the 
Light of historical knowledge or the faint glim- 
merings of tradition reach, seated above all the 
gods which represent the Stars, the Elements, 
and those which personify the innate forces of 
Universal Nature, we find a still higher Deity, si- 
lent, undefined, incomprehensible, the Supreme 
God, the Grand Architect of the Universe, from 
whom all the others flow or emanate. "Above the 
time god, Horus, the Moon goddess or earth god- 
dess Isis, and the Sun god, Osiris, of the Egyp- 
tians, was Amun, the Nature God, and above him 
the Infinite, Incomprehensible Deity, Athom; 
Brehm, the silent, self-contemplative, one orig- 
inal god, was the source to the Hindus, of 
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. Above Zeus, or 
before him, were Kronos and Ouranos. Over the 
Alohoyim was the great Nature God, Al, and 
still beyond him, Abstract Existence, IHUM, He 
that Is, Was, and Shall Be. Above all the Per- 
sian deities was the Unlimited Time God, 
ZERUANE-AKHERENE; and over Odin and 
Thor was the great Scandanavian Deity Alfa- 
dir!" 



AS SEEN BY THE ADEPTS 95 

CHAPTER V. 
AS SEEN BY THE ADEPTS. 

The Egyptian Sages had long taught their ini- 
tiates that there is but one God. Their esoteric 
learning embraced the great doctrines of ancient 
Theosophy. They treated of God, of Man, and 
of Nature. They regarded all the phenomena of 
Nature, which the profane worshipped as divini- 
ties as mere manifestations of the Supreme God. 

The High Sciences and lofty morality which 
they taught have inspired the emulation of the 
greatest men of every age. They studied the 
most abstract Sciences. They calculated 
eclipses. They discovered or preserved the 
famous geometrical theorems which the Greeks 
afterwards learned from them. They regulated 
the Julian calendar nirfeteen centuries before 
Caesar was born. They cultivated the fine Arts. 
They conducted practical investigations regard- 
ing the necessities of Life, and made known their 
discoveries. They inspired the Nation with that 
enthusiasm which produced the Pyramids, the 
Avenues of Thebes, the Labyrinth, the Temples 
of Karnac, the Monolithic Obelisks, and the 
great Lake, Meoris, the most gigantic irrigation 
project that antiquity ever saw. 

Their Wisdom had, for thousands of years, 
furnished a sure foundation for governmental 
policy ; their Science and Art formed a firm basis 



96 OUR HERITAGE 

for the most lofty ambition, the holiest inspira- 
tion, and exalted achievement; their Religion 
was synonymous for Life, Light, and Immor- 
tality. 

They ever sought to impress upon the mind of 
the novitiate, the great fact that the harmonious 
relation or cooperation of man with those prin- 
ciples of Nature, which condition the develop- 
ment, the evolution, the growth of the Individ- 
ual Life on this planet, will produce the Wise 
Man, the Maji, the Master. The whole matter 
is summed up in those brief words, attributed 
to Hermes, engraven upon the Tablet of Emer- 
ald, designated by one of the great writers of 
modern times as the Immutable Law of the 
Equilibrium, — "What is Superior is as that 
which is Inferior; and what is below is as that 
which is above, to form the marvels of the 
Unity." 

But, like all human institutions, the Tide of 
their Civilization reached its flood! 



POISON OF MATERIAL PROSPERITY 97 



CHAPTER VI 

THE POISON OF MATERIAL 
PROSPERITY. 

Material Prosperity, when it reaches a certain 
point, seems to develop a subtle poison. A 
spirit of selfishness develops with great wealth. 
Then, comes the struggle for Position, for Place, 
for Power ! Then, Dishonest Practices ! Then, 
the Protest of the Wronged and Plundered 
People ! Then, Interneccine Strife ! Then, the 
Final Struggle for Existence; and, at last, Na- 
tional Death. With the exception of this, a 
People may recover from any evil. Ignorance, 
Piracy, Robbery, and Violence of every descrip- 
tion may be succeeded by Virtue, Patriotism, 
National Honor and genuine greatness, but 
where is there an example of a corrupt and mer- 
cenary People who have ever recovered their vir- 
tue and patriotism? Their doom has ever been 
the lowest state of wretchedness, slavery, and 
misery ! Trodden down, scorned, obliterated 
from the list of Nations forever! 

This poison was in the blood of Egypt. 

About the time of Moses, a spirit of Greed, of 
Graft, of Selfishness took possession of her peo- 
ple. The struggle for Place, for Position, for 
Power began. Dishonesty, Domination, Op- 
pression and Suppression of the weaker classes 
followed in successive steps. Sorrow and suffer- 



98 OUR HERITAGE 

ing were everywhere. The cry of the wronged 
and plundered People was unheard or unheeded. 
Disintegration and Death had set their irrevoc- 
able seal upon the proudest of States. 

Egypt Died. 

The History of her death struggle is the sad 
and tragic story of that appalling Spiritual Dark- 
ness which finally and forever settled over the 
beautiful and sunlit land of the Pharaohs. From 
.such a bondage, and from such a fate, did the so- 
called Israelites flee! 

Like a far-off remembering of the Soul, it 
seemed to Vin that the preliminary stages in the 
disintegration, dishonor, and death of Egypt are 
now casting their shadows across the fairest por- 
tion of the western hemisphere. 



DISINTEGRATION OF STATES 99 

CHAPTER VII 

THE DISINTEGRATION OF STATES. 

Great Wealth in the hands of a few members 
of society, accompanied by abject poverty on the 
part of the many, a spirit of Greed, of Graft, of 
Corruption, accompanied by base subserviency, 
has always preceded the corruption and downfall 
of States. The possession of vast private for- 
tunes has always inspired the desire to control 
the forces of government and to dictate the pol- 
icy of the Nation. The People never yet existed 
that could stand this strain. Sidon and Tyre, 
whose merchant princes possessed the wealth of 
kings; Babylon and Palmyra, the ancient seats 
of Asiatic luxury; Rome, laden with the spoils 
of a world, overcome by her vices rather than by 
the hosts of her invaders ; these are a few of the 
more notable historical instances of the destruct- 
ive influences of great wealth when controlled 
absolutely by a few members of society. 
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
When wealth accumulates, and Men decay!" 
The influence of the clergy, observed Mr. 
Gibbon, might be usefully employed to assert the 
rights of mankind; but, so intimate is the rela- 
tion between the throne and the altar that the 
banner of the Church has very rarely been seen 
on the side of the People in their efforts to es- 
tablish or maintain a free government. Indeed, 



100 OUR HERITAGE 

until the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States, Church and State were every- 
where one and inseparable. 

The tendency of popular institutions is toward 
despotism. Executive power constantly en- 
croaches upon the rights and privileges of the 
people. It encroaches not alone with a con- 
scious purpose, but because it is restless, un- 
wearied, constantly drawn by the progress of 
events into new fields of contest. And whilst 
the encroachment of executive power may be 
scarcely perceptible at the outset, it is as certain 
and relentless as time itself. 

Against this perennially increasing power of 
the executive, the people put forth immense 
strength only to end in as great weakness. Popu- 
lar effort is misdirected. The people are wont to 
strike at the person of the Executive rather than" 
at the source of his authority; which is the prin- 
cipal reason why revolutionary movements so 
frequently prove abortive. Therefore it is that 
those popular movements, coming from those 
high mountains, which domineer over the moral 
horizon, Wisdom, Justice, Reason, Right, built 
of the purest snow of the ideal, after a long fall 
from rock to rock, after reflecting the sky in 
their transparency, after being swollen by a hun- 
dred affluents in the majestic course of triumph, 
suddenly lose themselves in quagmires, like the 
Nevada rivers in the sand. 

Popular effort is exhausted and discounted in 
reviving things long since dead; in embalming 



DISINTEGRATION OF STATES 101 

old dogmas, regilding faded shrines, restoring 
ancient superstitions, enforcing the worship of 
symbols as the actual means of salvation, tying 
the corpse of the Past, mouth to mouth with the 
living Present. Hence, it is one of the fatalities 
of Humanity to be condemned to continual 
struggles with Bigotry, with Hypocrisy, with 
Fear, with Envy, with Superstition, with Servi- 
tude, with the Pleas of Tyranny and the form- 
ulas of Error. 

Despotism, seen in the Past, seems respect- 
able. So, also, the mountain, bristling with vol- 
canic rock, when seen through the haze of dis- 
tance, seems blue, and smooth, and beautiful. 
The sight of a single dungeon is worth more to 
dispel illusions and create a proper estimate of 
arbitrary power than the most eloquent volumes 
ever written. The Rack, the Thumbscrew, the 
Iron Boot, the Infinite Instruments of the In- 
quisition should be preserved in Memoriam, for- 
ever. As an object lesson, they might do much 
to direct public effort rightly. 

So Vin thought. 

Unless Liberty be protected by intrepid and 
vigilant guardians, a time will surely come to 
every commonwealth when it will be wholly 
governed by an ignoble oligarchy; an oligarchy, 
composed of professional politicians, of great 
financial institutions, of those enriched by huge 
bankruptcies, by arbitrary expansions and 
equally unwarranted contractions of the cur- 
rency, by the depreciation of all securities, by 



102 OUR HERITAGE 

the crash of banks, by panics, which, impoverish- 
ing multitudes, are caused by cheap and cunning 
knavery. Then, all delusions regarding Equal- 
ity, Justice, and Liberty perish, and the wronged 
and plundered people may regain their Freedom 
only by passing through untold suffering and 
hardship. 

In periods of Public Distress, there are always 
those who incite to violence and anarchy, crying : 
"Down with Property ! Down with Law and Or- 
der! Down with Governments Dansons la Car- 
magnole!" — while there must be the just and 
normal relation of Constitution and Law, within 
which, to be effective, Public Effort must be 
confined. Make a breach in either, as did the 
people of France in 1793, and the Great Steam 
Hammer, with swift and ponderous blows, shat- 
ters the machinery of government to atoms and, 
at last, wrenching itself away, lies inert and dead 
amid the ruin it has wrought. 

Two essential characteristics are absolutely 
necessary in order that Reform may be effective. 
Reform must be moderate. It must be persistent 
as the evil it is intended to eradicate. Certain it 
is that no government ever has been, or ever can 
be, long conducted by the People and for the 
People, without a rigid adherence to those prin- 
ciples which Reason commends as just and right. 
Such principles must be the great standard by 
which men and legislation are measured. They 
must be inexorable in their application. All 
must come up to their standard or declare 



DISINTEGRATION OF STATES 103 

against it. Measures which bring fundamental 
principles into question are frauds against Lib- 
erty, and their logical result is the ruin of the 
party and the disintegration of the State which 
adopts them. Arbitrary power is the inevitable 
consequence of misplaced confidence in political 
parties. Never has it resulted from the operation 
of Just, Sound, Well-tried principles ! 

The Thirst for Power, once awakened, is insa- 
tiable. Neither Individuals, Societies, Govern- 
ments, Nations, nor Parties ever have power 
enough. The Empire makes its safety the plea 
for open robbery. The Great Monarchies, with- 
out making any excuse, partition among them- 
selves a kingdom ; they obliterate a Republic. 
"To maintain the balance of power" is a common 
plea for the destruction of rival states. Spain, 
haughty with her dominions and drunk with 
power, endeavored to crush the Netherlands. 
Philip the II. married Queen Mary, and that pre- 
cious pair sought to win Great Britain back to 
her allegiance to the Holy See. Afterwards, 
Spain attempted to conquer the Kingdom with 
her "Invincible" Aramada. Napoleon set his 
friends and relatives on thrones and parcelled 
amongst them half Europe. The American Re- 
public cloaks its ambition with the specious plea 
of "Duty to extend the area of Freedom," claim- 
ing it as her manifest destiny to annex other ter- 
ritories, distant provinces, and islands of the sea, 
under empty or fraudulent pretexts. She stood 



104 OUR HERITAGE 

quietly by whilst the Japanese ravished the Her- 
mit Empire ! 

The Nation that grasps at the Commerce of 
the World cannot fail to become selfish, calculat- 
ing, dead to those noble aspirations and impulses 
which make a people great. Rather than endan- 
ger its commercial interests it will submit to in- 
sult; whilst to subserve those interests it will 
wage unjust war on frivolous or fraudulent pre- 
texts; its free people cheerfully allying them- 
selves with monarchy to crush a commercial 
rival. War for a great principle ennobles a na- 
tion; but when inspired by a spirit of commer- 
cial greed it is despicable and inevitably leads to 
destruction and disintegration. Why? Because 
it produces wrong and injustice which forbid 
mankind to be its friend. 

It is lamentable to see a nation split into fac- 
tions, each following this or that brazen-faced, 
swash-buckler leader, with a blind, unreasoning, 
unquestioning hero-worship. It is contemptible 
to see it divided into parties, whose sole end is 
the spoils of victory, and its leaders the Low, the 
Base, the Venal, and the Small. No matter how 
prosperous such a nation may seem to be, Lib- 
erty is in the last stages of decay and near its 
end. "It wrangles over the volcano and the 
earthquake." 

It would be natural to suppose that a nation in 
distress would call its wisest sons into council. 
On the contrary, great men seem never so scarce 
as when they are most needed. Small men are 



DISINTEGRATION OF STATES 105 

never so bold as when incapable greenness, 
sophomoric pretense, and showy incompetence 
are most dangerous. When France was in the 
throes of Revolutionary Agony, she was con- 
trolled by an Assembly of Pettifoggers, — Robe- 
spierre, Marat, and Couthon ruled instead of 
Marabeau, Vergniaud, and Carnot. England was 
governed by the Rump Parliament after the exe- 
cution of her King. Cromwell extinguished 
one body; Napoleon the other. 

These considerations should teach us that it is 
not enough for a people to gain Liberty. They 
must guard it vigilantly if they would retain it. 

Public Opinion is a great force. It is omnipo- 
tent. It is the business of the Statesman to find 
the means to shape and wisely direct it ; for it is 
according as this is done that Public Opinion 
is conservative, constructive, and beneficial, or 
destructive and ruinous. 




106 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER VIII. 
MOSES, THE ADEPT. 

^Moses was brought up in the Palace of the 
King, either as heir apparent or as the adopted 
son of Pharaoh's daughter. He was initiated 
into all the learning of the Egyptian Brother- 
hood. He was an Adept. Himself a Priest of 
Heliopolis, Moses was learned in the Law. After 
the migration, he married the daughter of 
Jethro, a Priestess of Ann or Heliopolis. 

In the establishment of a Priesthood after the 
migration, in the powers and privileges, as well 
as in the immunities and the sanctity which he 
conferred upon it, Moses closely imitated Egyp- 
tian institutions, and made public the worship of 
that Deity whom the Egyptian Brotherhood had 
long worshipped in private. The doctrines thus 
announced were far in advance of the popular no- 
tions of the people, and it is easy to understand 
why they continually relapsed into rebellion 
against the majesty of their Invisible King and 
imitated every fantastic ceremony which their 
profane ancestors had long practised in Egypt. 
Even Aaron, (Aharun) upon their first clamor- 
ous discontent, restored the worship of Apis, in 
the image of which Egyptian Deity he made the 
Golden Calf! 

The great mass of the emigrants did not be- 
lieve in One, Only Deity until a late period of 



MOSES, THE ADEPT 107 

their history if, indeed, they ever reached that 
high plane of mental and moral and spiritual en- 
lightenment. "Who among the Baalim is like 
unto thee, O Jehovah!" expressed the whole 
creed of the Hebrew people. Nevertheless, their 
ideas gradually improved. Being lowest in the 
historical Books, amended in the Prophetic 
Writings, they reached their highest level among 
the Poets. 

It is too clear for argument that it was a part 
of the Egyptian Race that migrated from the 
Valley of the Nile, under the leadership of 
Moses ; and it is a reasonable inference that the 
minority, or some portion of it, which had vainly 
sought to establish the supremacy of the Sun 
God became dissatisfied with the established or- 
der of things, and determined to emigrate. Is 
not such conclusion consistent with the known 
history of western civilization in every age? Is 
it not the brave, the daring, the intelligent, the 
religious, the self-reliant, who have ever been 
led through the wilderness into the Promised 
Land? Verily, Verily, they have always been 
the vanguard of western civilization ! 

They established a Commonwealth on the 
eastern shores of the Mediterranean sea, some 
fifteen centuries before the Christian era, which 
would do credit to our Revolutionary fathers. 
There, we find the first tentative experiments in 
democracy and popular government. There, the 
people first came to their own. There, they were 
first recognized as the ultimate source of author- 



108 OUR HERITAGE 

ity, next to the authority of the Supreme Ruler 
of the Universe. There, all officials were chosen 
by direct vote of the people; they were nomi- 
nated, says Josephus, from among those over 
whom they were to rule, but such as the whole 
nation have tried and can approve as good and 
righteous men. There, the Common Law was 
formulated. There, the trial jury, a jury com- 
posed of witnesses, having some knowledge of 
the facts, was established. There, too, we find 
the first free and independent judiciary which 
ihistory records. 



BOOK III 
MARIE 



110 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER I. 
THE HEBREW COMMONWEALTH. 

After leaving the Valley of the Nile, the emi- 
grants settled in the region of the Jordan and 
entered upon a national existence peculiarly 
their own in character. The Commonwealth 
consisted of a number of tribes, loosely bound 
together as one confederate body, each occupy- 
ing its own territory, and exercising supreme au- 
thority over local affairs. There has been some 
controversy regarding the number of tribes. No 
doubt the number in any year corresponded to 
the number of months in the lunar calendar; 
and, when there were twelve lunar months in 
any year, the two tribes of Joseph (Ephraim and 
Manassah) were counted as one tribe; whilst, 
when there were thirteen complete lunar 
months in any year, the tribes of Joseph were 
counted as two, making thirteen tribes. The 
tribes formed a confederation somewhat like that 
which existed between the thirteen American 
Colonies prior to the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. The History of the 
Hebrew Commonwealth is interesting princi- 
pally because it is there that we find the first 
tentative experiments in democracy and popular 
government. 

Stagnation is the rule. Progress, the rare ex- 
ception amongst Individuals as well as Nations. 



HEBREW COMMONWEALTH 111 

In accordance with this rule, a process of stag- 
nation, ossification, mental stasis, degeneration, 
early commenced in the theological oligarchy of 
the Hebrew Commonwealth. Prohibitions and 
ordinances originally prescribed for reasons 
deemed wise and sufficient to a few simple acts 
came in time to apply to all other acts of like 
character; because people — Individuals, Families, 
or Nations, — menaced with the anger of the gods 
for doing one thing feel a natural terror in doing 
any other thing, however remotely like it. One 
kind of food having been interdicted, probably 
for sanitary reasons, the prohibition was gradu- 
ally extended to all food resembling it. A wise 
provision for ensuring general cleanliness, dic- 
tated, in the process of time, long routines of 
ceremonial ablutions. Again, that separation of 
civil and priestly authority, a most salutary 
measure for the maintenance of free institutions, 
produced, in the long result, the most disastrous 
and blighting of all human institutions, a hypo- 
critically pious, sanctimonious, corrupt, and 
powerful priesthood. The members of such a 
caste could not but consider that transgressions 
of their ordinances should be punished by civil 
penalties, whilst disregard of civil obligations 
should expose the delinquent to ecclesiastical 
correction or discipline. But, there was a pop- 
ular and progressive minority among the people 
of the Hebrew Commonwealth, found princi- 
pally in the Tribe of Ephraim, which resisted 
these tendencies, and a conflict early arose be- 



112 HEBREW COMMONWEALTH 

tween this progressive body of individual citi- 
zens, on the one hand, and the House of Levi 
and its adherents, on the other; a conflict, which 
was fundamental in its character, and which ex- 
tended through several centuries, culminating in 
the revolution which divided the nation, follow- 
ing the death of Solomon. 

And it is to that progressive minority, com- 
posed of a few brave men and women of genuine 
genius and inspiration, and the principles of 
Equality, Justice, and Liberty, which they saved 
to posterity, that the people of the United States 
are indebted for those principles which are en- 
shrined in the Constitution of the United States. 



THE DECALOGUE 113 

CHAPTER II. 
THE DECALOGUE. 

It has been observed that the Mosaic Law was 
based in large part on the Commandments, 
which contain, in less than three hundred words, 
a comprehensive statement of what its compil- 
ers believed should constitute the whole duty of 
Man to God and to his Fellowmen. The Deca- 
logue was a Constitution. 

Whilst it would be interesting to trace the 
evolution of the principles stated in the com- 
mandments from the time they were first recog- 
nized, until they were engraven upon the Tab- 
lets of Stone, the scope of this Book precludes 
more than a brief indication of their origin. 
Some of them (Thou shalt not kill, steal, commit 
adultery, or swear falsely), are as old as the 
human race. Vin had witnessed uncivilized 
tribes in the mountains of Luzon administer a 
rude justice, which was confined to these funda- 
mental principles of right and wrong. Primitive 
man found that the commission of such acts led 
to retaliation; punishment, swift and sure, was 
meted out at the hands of the neighboring tribes- 
man who had been wronged. Self-preservation, 
the first and greatest law of Nature, required of 
Primitive Man that he do none of those things. 
Those acts were not forbidden, in the first in- 
stance, by stone-written constitutions, which 



114 OUR HERITAGE 

were clearly of supplementary origin, but by the 
common and unwritten custom and consent of 
mankind; and therein is their true authority, 
even now. As the nation developed, it was 
found that the underlying cause of the Commis- 
sion of such Acts was Selfishness, and thereupon 
a ban was also placed upon Covetousness. 

The Humanity and Wisdom which character- 
ize the Mosaic laws have challenged the admira- 
tion of the world for many centuries. Sanctity 
of life, kindness to the poor, discouragement of 
luxury and extravagance, and regulations re- 
garding the mortgage and transfer of real prop- 
erty which tended to make disproportionate for- 
tunes difficult are among the more important 
provisions. There were statutes regulating the 
acquisition, the transfer and use of property, in- 
cluding regulations for its transfer, and recovery 
when wrongfully appropriated by another. 
There was a law defining murder and other 
homicides, as well as other felonies and misde- 
meanors. Penalties, extending from formal exe- 
cution, down to the infliction of "Forty stripes 
less one," to small fines and other means of com- 
pensating for wrongful acts, were provided. 

The provisions of the Mosaic law in regard to 
the relation of Master and Servant, to Injuries 
inflicted on the Body, to the respect due to 
Parents, to the Protection of the Widow, the 
Fatherless, the Unfortunate; to Delicacy in the 
treatment of Woman; to Unjust Judgments; to 
Bribery and Corruption ; to Revenge, Hatred, 



THE DECALOGUE 115 

and Covetousness ; to Falsehood and Scandal ; to 
Unchastity, Theft, Murder and Adultery, can 
never be gainsaid. 

Legislative Assemblies, composed of represen- 
tatives chosen from among the principal men of 
the several tribes, were instituted to discuss 
peace and war and other matters of public im- 
portance and interest; an organized form of gov- 
ernment somewhat similar, in its lack of author- 
ity to carry its enactments into effect, to the Con- 
tinental Congress. The people of the several 
tribes, in council assembled, were recognized as 
the ultimate source of authority; the resolutions 
of the general assembly were merely advisory, 
and could be carried into effect only as the sev- 
eral tribes in council assembled concurred. 

The Individual was the unit of the Nation. 
The first beginning, the first tentative experi- 
ments in democracy and popular government are 
directly traceable to the provisions of the Mo- 
saic Code, under which the Hebrew Common- 
wealth was established and endured for several 
centuries. 



116 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER III. 

WOMAN EQUAL TO MAN. 

In their treatment of Woman, says Herodotus, 
the Egyptians were centuries in advance of their 
contemporaries. Their customs in this regard 
were not very different from those which obtain 
among the better classes today. Woman was 
recognized as the equal of her husband or other 
male relatives. She had all the legal rights 
which were enjoyed by him. She was admitted 
to a portion, at least, of the esoteric learning of 
the Hermetic Brotherhood. The daughter of 
Jethro and wife of Moses was a Priestess of He- 
liopolis. The wives and daughters of Kings suc- 
ceeded to the throne like the male members of 
the royal family ; nor was this rule of succession 
rescinded even though it had more than once en- 
tailed upon the nation the troubles incident to a 
contested succession; foreign princes, on several 
occasions, had claimed title to the throne 
through marriage with an Egyptian princess. 
"It was not a mere influence that they possessed, 
•which women often acquire in the most arbitrary 
eastern communities ; neither was it a political 
importance accorded to a particular individual, 
like that of the Sultana Valideh, the Queen 
Mother of Constantinople; it was a right ac- 
knowledged by law, both in private and in pub- 
lic life." 



WOMAN EQUAL TO MAN 117 

Marriage was encouraged. Upon arriving at 
maturity, the youth was expected to marry. The 
marriage ceremony was social, rather than re- 
ligious or statutory. The nuptials were usually 
celebrated at the home of the bride. There she 
was arrayed for her husband. There, the bridal 
chamber was prepared. Her bridesmaids and 
friends were in attendance. The bridegroom, ac- 
companied by his relatives and friends, came 
from his own place and, as he approached the 
home of his fiancee, she came forth with her 
friends to meet him. The two processions 
joined. There was dancing and song, merry- 
making, and afterwards feasting, which contin- 
ued throughout the night. On the morrow the 
wedded pair, perhaps accompanied by their 
friends, went to their own home, and the new 
family was established. The family tie was 
strong and enduring. Divorce was of rare oc- 
currence. The words "Father" and "Mother 1 ' 
then meant all that they now imply in our best 
homes. The emigrants carried these customs 
into their new home, and made them a part of 
their religion. The precept, "Honor thy father 
and thy mother," was not merely a command, 
thundered, as the theologians assert, from Mount 
Sinai ! It was a Vital and Living Truth, upon 
which the strength of the Commonwealth was 
built. 

Yet, strange as it may seem, Latin Theology 
is based upon the slander and shame of mother- 
hood. Within the "Inspired" pages of the Bible, 



118 OUR HERITAGE 

not an American Bible, there is little but shame 
and humiliation for Woman. She is there re- 
garded as the property of Man. She is expected 
to keep silent in the Church, to ask forgiveness 
for becoming a Mother. She is as much inferior 
to her husband as he is supposed to be inferior 
to Christ. The Bible is too pure to be read in 
public by her polluted lips. In the Bible is found 
no description of a civilized home; a free wo- 
man, surrounded by loving children, adored by 
a free man, her husband, was unknown to the 
"Inspired" authors of that Book. The Bible was 
written, edited, revised, and re-written by Men, 
selfish, vain, conceited, ambitious Men! The 
Bible is the great Bulwark of Special Privilege 
and Assumed Authority. And so long as 
Woman continues to regard the Bible as the 
great standard by which her rights are to be 
measured, just so long will she continue to be 
the Inferior, the Servant, the Serf, the Slave of 
Man. Naturally, the Intelligent Women of Eu- 
rope and America, as well as the Chinese Repub- 
lic, are beginning to rebel against such servitude, 
and in that rebellion is seen the promise of a bet- 
ter, brighter, more beautiful and beneficent 
world. 



THE FAMILY 119 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE FAMILY. 

The Family was privileged to protect its mem- 
bers from aggression or injury, and to avenge a 
member, if slain. The next of kin had the abso- 
lute right to slay the offender whenever and 
wherever he might be found. This privilege of 
the Avenger of Blood or next of kin gave rise to 
the Cities of Refuge, which were established for 
the safety of those who were so unfortunate as 
to kill another by accident ; for example, "When 
a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to 
cut wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with 
the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slip- 
peth from the helve and lighteth upon his neigh- 
bor that he die, he shall flee unto one of those 
cities and live." In such case, although there 
was neither malice nor premeditation, and conse- 
quently no criminal intent, yet the Avenger of 
Blood might not forgive the homicide. The des- 
ignated Cities of Refuge were the only places 
where such unfortunate offenders were safe from 
pursuit and death. Their terms of seclusion ter- 
minated only with the death of the High Priest 
under whom the slaughter and flight happened, 
or by the coming of the fiftieth year, or Year of 
Jubilee. Thus the term of seclusion might be 
any time — fifty years to a few days, more or less ; 
but for the slayer to venture beyond the limits of 



120 OUR HERITAGE 

the city to which he had retired prior to the hap- 
pening of either of those events was to court 
death at the hands of the Avenger of Blood. 

The loyalty of the Family for its members was 
characteristic of the Clan and Tribe, as well as 
of the entire Nation when threatened by a for- 
eign foe; but however urgent the necessity, 
strong the pressure, or close the union, during 
periods of public danger, the union was at once 
dissolved, and Tribes, Clans, Families, fell apart 
and resumed their independent positions or rela- 
tions, as soon as the danger had passed. These 
conditions offered an almost insuperable barrier 
to any close Union; still the Commonwealth en- 
dured for several centuries. 

The young men were familiar with the use of 
weapons, such as the Spear, Sling and Stone, 
Sword, Shield, Bow and Arrows, and Javelin. 
Accustomed to danger and hardship, they were 
subject to command as soldiers, citizen soldiers 
«of the Commonwealth, as soon as they were 
'able to bear arms and join battle." The excep- 
tions to this rule were as follows: "Those who 
have built a home and have not lived in it for a 
year; those who have planted vineyards and 
have not been partakers of their fruits; as well 
as those who are betrothed, or who have recently 
married, lest they have such an affection for 
those things as to become voluntary cowards." 

In what other Nation of Antiquity, exclaimed 
Doctor John Lord, were seen such respect to pa- 
rents, such fidelity to husbands, such charming 



THE FAMILY 121 

delights of home, such ardent loves, such sincere 
friendships, such regard to the principles of Jus- 
tice! Indeed, if we except ancient Egypt, we 
would seek in vain among the Nations of An- 
tiquity, for anything approaching in purity the 
moral and social institutions of the People of 
Ephraim during the existence of the Common- 
wealth. 

In addition to being independent of each other, 
the tribes were independent of the general gov- 
ernment. Dependent upon its citizen soldiers, 
the Commonwealth was strong for defense, but 
it could carry on no aggressive campaign against 
a foreign foe. And it was doubtless the ineffi- 
ciency of such a government to cope with ques- 
tions of national and international moment, 
which led to the policy of seclusion adopted by 
the Commonwealth. The recommendation of 
Moses, warning the nation against foreign alli- 
ances, was not very different in spirit from that 
which Washington, in his farewell address, made 
to the people of America, warning them against 
making conventions with the governments of 
Europe. "A rim of bristling localism was drawn 
around the Commonwealth, and everything be- 
yond that exclusive periphery was avoided and 
ignored, this as a principle of statescraft and an 
article of religion." 

One of the scenes in the drama hereafter to 
be described makes it important to observe that 
the children were required to learn the Law, not 
the ecclesiastical rules or precepts, which are 



122 OUR HERITAGE 

sometimes inaccurately referred to as "The 
Law," but those principles of Equality, Justice, 
and Liberty which regulate the rights of Man- 
kind. Those principles they were required to 
memorize. As the first thing they are taught, 
says Josephus, which will be the best thing they 
can be taught, and the cause of their future fe- 
licity and happiness. For it is a good thing that 
the Law should be engraven in their memories, 
so that it may not be possible to blot them out. 
This requirement gave rise to the further rule 
that "no one shall be permitted to plead ignor- 
ance of the Law." And continuing, Josephus 
said, "The Law also will have great authority, 
foretelling what they will suffer if they break it, 
and imprinting in their Souls what they com- 
mand, so that there may always be within their 
minds that intention of the laws which they have 
broken, and have been thereby the cause of their 
own mischief." 



ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 123 

CHAPTER V. 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 

The Student may observe, among the institu- 
tions of the Commonwealth, the first independ- 
ent Judiciary which history records. The Judges, 
according to Josephus, were chosen from among 
those who have been most zealous in the exer- 
cise of virtue. "Let those who are chosen to 
judge be held in high honor; and let none be 
permitted to revile any other when jihe judges 
are present nor carry themselves in an insolent 
manner before them." Before assuming his du- 
ties, the Judge was required to take a solemn 
oath to determine causes according to his best 
judgment of what right and justice dictated. 
His conduct could not be called in question, ex- 
cept by a process of impeachment, "Unless any 
one can show that they have taken bribes to the 
perversion of Justice, or can make any other 
accusation against them, whereby it may appear 
that they have passed an unjust sentence." The 
Court was held at the "Entering in of the Gates." 
There the Judges heard all causes, which were 
brought before them in the orderly course of 
trial. 

During the continuance of the Commonwealth, 
the administration of criminal justice left little 
to be desired. A person charged with crime was 
deemed innocent until his guilt was established, 



124 OUR HERITAGE 

beyond reasonable doubt, in a court having juris- 
diction of the offense ; his rights were clearly de- 
fined and jealously guarded. The testimony of a 
single witness was not sufficient to establish 
guilt; neither was the testimony of servants ac- 
credited; because, says Josephus, of their ig- 
noble character, and the probability that they 
may not speak truth either through hope of re- 
ward or fear of punishment. But "at the mouth 
of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three wit- 
nesses, shall the matter be established." 

In criminal cases, the witnesses, sitting as as- 
sessors or jurymen, were the final judges of fact. 
It was by their solemn oath, of his innocence or 
guilt, that the accused must stand or fall. If, 
therefore, the jury of witnesses, after hearing and 
comparing all of the evidence, including the 
sworn testimony of the accused, if he desired to 
be heard, were in doubt regarding his guilt, and 
were unwilling to raise up their hands against 
him, the accused was forthwith discharged; for 
"the hands of the witnesses shall be first upon 
him to put him to death, and afterwards the 
hands of all the people." The Judges were with- 
out authority to impose sentence until the Jury 
after hearing all of the testimony, raised up their 
hands against the accused and, by so doing, de- 
clared him to be "Guilty, as charged, beyond all 
reasonable doubt." 

The functions of the Jury do not so clearly ap- 
pear in the administration of civil justice, al- 
though there is some authority for the state- 



ADMINISTKATION OF JUSTICE 125 

ment that here too the witnesses were the final 
judges of fact. The sentimental features of the 
story have been given undue prominence in the 
Book of Ruth. The controversy over the estate 
of Elimelech is interesting; the law of the case 
may be stated as follows : Where a man died, 
leaving a wife but no children, the next or near- 
est male relative had a conditional inheritance ; 
he might inherit the estate, provided he could 
marry the widow. Mahlon, the husband of Ruth 
and owner of the estate in question, died, leav- 
ing no children. The next of kin entered into 
possession of the estate and retained it under 
claim of title and color of right, but without mar- 
rying the widow. The story of Ruth, of her 
gleaning in the fields of Boaz, his kindness, and 
their mutual attachment are well known. Now 
about noon, says Josephus, Boaz went down to 
the city, and called the senate together, and 
when he had sent for Ruth, he called for the 
kinsman also. And when the kinsman was come, 
Boaz asked him if it were true that he claimed 
the inheritance of Elimelech and his sons; and 
the kinsman admitted that he did retain it, alleg- 
ing that he was permitted to do so by the laws, 
because he was the nearest of kin. Then, said 
Boaz, "thou must not remember the laws in part, 
but do everything according to them ; now, the 
widow of Mahlon hath come hither, whom thou 
must marry according to the law, in case thou 
wilt retain their fields." And the kinsman re- 
plied that he was unable to comply with that 



126 OUR HERITAGE 

condition, because "he had a wife already and 
children also." And Boaz said unto the elders 
and unto all the people who were in the gate, 
"Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought 
all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chi- 
lon's, and all that was Mahlon's," and all the peo- 
ple that were in the gate (Court) and the elders, 
said : "We are witnesses." And when this was 
done, the kinsman took off his shoe and delivered 
it to Boaz as a token that he surrendered all in- 
terest in the land. The Targum, instead of the 
shoe, says right hand glove. In later times the 
Jews delivered a handkerchief for the same pur- 
pose. The giving of a glove was in the middle 
ages a ceremony of investiture in granting lands 
or dignities. In A. D. 1002, two bishops were put 
in possession of their sees, each by receiving a 
glove; so, in England, during the reign of Ed- 
ward II., the deprivation of gloves was a cere- 
mony of degradation. 



MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION 127 

CHAPTER VI. 
THE MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION. 

Whence came this Wisdom? Was it the result 
of study, of experience, or reflection? Was it 
due to the principles of Evolution? Was it su- 
pernaturally taught by the Almighty? 

Considered from the viewpoint of Latin The- 
ology, Moses was not a legislator in the sense in 
which Solon, Lycurgas, Justinian, Alfred the 
Great, and others, were regarded as the authors 
of their respective Codes ; quite the contrary ; 
Moses is regarded as an Amenuensis of the Al- 
mighty ! And according to that Dogma, which 
at best is only supported by the vaguest conjec- 
ture, the Mosaic Law came to the people in the 
wilderness under a sanction from on high, most, 
solemn and glorious. Such has been the view 
of the Christian Church, and its predecessors, for 
many centuries, and this notwithstanding the 
fact that Josephus, throughout the Antiquities of 
the Jews, considered and constantly refers to 
Moses merely as a Legislator. Still, the supposi- 
tion that in some mysterious way, "The Lord 
spake unto Moses," telling him what to write, 
was not without a measure of plausibility prior 
to A. D. 1859. Down to that time, the Theologi- 
cal School had rested secure in the conviction 
that the annals of our race had been fully chron- 
icled. 



128 OUR HERITAGE 

It is not profitable to review the long series of 
guesses, by the greatest minds in the Church, 
from Eusebius to Archbishop Usher, whereby 
the date of man's appearance on this planet was 
fixed in round numbers, four thousand years be- 
fore our era ; a single illustration will suffice. In 
the seventeenth century, Doctor John Lightfoot, 
vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, 
and one of the most eminent theologians of his 
time, declared it to be the result of his profound 
and exhaustive study of the Hebrew Scriptures, 
that "Heaven and Earth were created altogether, 
in the same instant" and that "this work took 
place, and man was created by the Trinity on Oc- 
tober 28, 4004 B. C., at nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing." After Doctor Lightfoot's notable achieve- 
ment, the origin of our race and world was 
regarded as settled beyond controversy, and one 
had only to turn to the first or second chapters 
of Genesis to find on the margin the date, and in 
the text a brief, though graphic account of the 
manner of Man's appearance. 

According to the Book of Genesis, the story of 
the origin of Man is that the Supreme Being 
decided to make the World and a Man ; that he 
made the world and the man, and placed the man 
in a garden. After a while, the Supreme Being 
noticed that the Man was irritable, restless, and 
uneasy ; that he seemed lonesome ; and then, the 
Supreme Being decided to make a companion 
for the man. But, having used up all the original 
"nothing" in making the World and the Man 



MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION 129 

there was no more "nothing" from which to 
make a Woman. The Supreme Being was not, 
however, without resources. He caused a deep 
sleep to fall upon the Man, chloroformed him, 
and took a rib, or as the French would say, a 
cutlet, out of the Man's side, and from it fash- 
ioned a Woman ! And after completing the 
Woman, the Supreme Being brought her to the 
Man. To see how she liked him? Bless you, my 
child, that is not the spirit of Latin Theology. 
No! To see how he liked her! The Man liked the 
woman, at least he said so, and they started 
house-keeping. And the Supreme Being told 
them of certain things they might do, and of 
others that they might not do; and, of course, 
those others were the things they most wanted 
to do. And they did. They knocked the apples 
out of that tree in a hurry. And when the Su- 
preme Being found that the Man and Woman 
had eaten an apple, he was very angry. And the 
Man laid the blame on the Woman ! And the 
Supreme Being turned them out of the garden. 
What a Man ! What a God ! Trouble commenced ; 
Roses developed thorns ; Snakes grew poisoned 
fangs, and the world has been full of discord, 
trouble, turmoil and "Original Sin" from that 
day to this. Every Theology in the world has 
attempted to account for the existence of the 
Universe, for Good and Evil by such a story as 
that. In the Vedas, another account of the same 
transaction, written several thousand years be- 
fore Adam and the Garden of Eden, is to be 



130 OUR HERITAGE 

found. There, the story is that Brahma decided 
to make the world, a Man, and a Woman, and the 
scene of this Creation story was the Island of 
Ceylon, which, according to the account, was the 
most beautiful Island of which any mind can 
conceive, such Birds, such Songs, such Flowers, 
such Foliage, such Verdure ! And the Trees were 
so arranged that when the soft zephyrs played 
among the branches, every Tree was a thousand 
Eolian Harps ! When Brahma placed them there, 
lie said : "Let them have a period of courtship, for 
it is my desire and will that true Love shall for- 
•ever precede marriage." Then, they had their 
courtship with the nightingale singing and the 
stars shining, with the flowers blooming, and 
they fell in Love, and were married by the Su- 
preme Brahma, who admonished them never to 
leave the island; but, after a time, the Man, 
whose name was Adami, (the woman's name was 
Heva), said to his wife, "I believe I'll look about 
a bit." He went to the northern extremity of the 
Island, and found a narrow neck of land connect- 
ing with the mainland; and the Devil, who is 
^always playing pranks, produced a mirage, and 
when Adami looked over to the mainland, he 
Avas so much pleased with the prospect, that 
lie went back and said to Heva, "The country 
over there is a thousand times better than this, 
let us go!" But Heva answered, "Let well 
enough alone ! Let us stay here ! We are happy 
here, and have everything we need !" But Adami 
insisted, and they went. The instant they 



MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION 131 

reached the mainland, they heard a great crash 
and, looking back, they saw that the neck of land 
had fallen into the sea ; the mirage disappeared ; 
there was nothing but rocks and sand, the torrid 
rays of the tropical sun, and the wind, singing- 
sad requiems over their chagrin and disappoint- 
ment. And the Supreme Brahma came and 
cursed them both to the deepest hell ! Then it 
was that Adami said, ''Curse me, but curse not 
her. It was not her fault; it was mine! That's 
the kind of a Man to start a world with; a Man 
who can see his mistake and admit it! And 
thereupon the Supreme Brahma said, "I will save 
her but not thee." And then Heva spoke, out 
of the fullness of her Love, out of a heart in 
which there was Love enough to make all her 
daughters rich in holy affection, and said, "If 
thou wilt not spare him, O Brahma, spare neither 
me; I do not wish to live without him; I love 
him." And then the Supreme Brahma said, "I 
will spare you both and watch over you and your 
children, forever." 



Unfortunately our knowledge of the world and 
of Man's past does not enable us to be thus ex- 
act, either as to the time or manner of Man's 
appearance on this Earth, but we know that, at 
the hour stated by Doctor Lightfoot, an exceed- 
ingly cultivated people, enjoying all the fruits of 
a highly developed civilization, had been swarm- 
ing in the great cities of Egypt, and that other 



132 OUR HERITAGE 

nations, only less advanced, had, at that time, 
reached a high development in Asia. 

But the theory of the Theological School re- 
garding the origin of our Race, of our Law, and 
of our World, is only less absurd than their con- 
jectures on other subjects. The Fathers of 
Latin Theology taught that the Earth was flat 
and stationary; the sky a Roof; the Stars count- 
less Gems ; and the Sun only a little ball of light 
passing over the Earth. Then it was that this 
Planet came to be regarded as the center of the 
Universe. Then, it was not difficult to imagine 
a God, "dwelling beyond the sky", who had made 
the world, hung up the stars, and arranged every- 
thing in a mechanical way. Neither was it diffi- 
cult, then, to suppose that such superior being 
may have dictated his statutes to Moses. Now, 
all that has gone ! The solid sky has dissolved 
into infinite space. The Sun has become more 
than a million times larger than the Earth. The 
Stars, receding into infinite space, have become 
centers of vast systems, until, instead of one Sun, 
we have millions of Suns and many of vast size. 
"When we gaze of a moonless, clear night, on the 
heavens glittering with Stars, and know that 
each fixed star of all the myriads is a Sun, each 
probably peopled with living beings, we sensibly 
feel our own unimportance in the scale of crea- 
tion, and at once reflect that much of what has in 
different ages been Religious faith, could never 
have been believed, if the nature, size, and dis- 
tance of those Suns, and of our own Sun, Moon, 



MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION 133 

and Planets had been known to the Ancients as 
they are to us." Do not these considerations 
make it absurd to suppose that the Mosaic Code 
was a revelation? Is it not equally absurd to sup- 
pose that one of the wisest statesmen who ever 
lived, was merely a Stenographer? Just so! 
Vin thought it time that a more rational view of 
the history of our Race and World should be 
publicly taught. 

The Mosaic Law was and is authoritative be- 
cause it was developed in accordance with those 
principles which govern the Evolution of Truth 
in all ages. But, wailed Doctor John Lord, in one 
of his lectures, "Sweep away his authority as an 
inspiration, and you undermine the whole author- 
ity of the Bible; you bring it down to the level 
of all other books; you make it valuable only as 
a thesaurus of interesting stories and impressive 
moral truths, which we accept as we do all other 
kinds of knowledge, leaving us free to reject what 
we cannot understand or appreciate, or even 
what we dislike." On the contrary, when the au- 
thority of Moses, as an inspiration, is swept 
away, we do not undermine the authority of the 
Bible ; instead of having such an effect, it tends 
to establish its Truth and add to its Authority. 
To say that the Bible is not true, or that its au- 
thority can be thus destroyed, "is as if one should 
say that a flower, or a tree, or a planet is not true ; 
to scoff at them is to scoff at the law of the Uni- 
verse. In welding together into noble form, 
whether in the Book of Genesis, or in the Psalms, 



134 OUR HERITAGE 

or in the Book of Job, or elsewhere, the great 
conceptions of men acting under earlier inspira- 
tion, whether in Egypt, or Chaldea, or India, or 
Persia, the compilers of our Sacred Books have 
given to Humanity a possession ever becoming 
more and more precious ; and modern Science, in 
substituting a new heaven and a new earth for 
the old, the reign of law for the reign of caprice, 
and the idea of Evolution for that of Creation, 
has added and is steadily adding a new revela- 
tion divinely inspired." The Mosaic Law is no 
exception to the rule that everything which has 
power to challenge the admiration, obedience, or 
respect of men must have its roots deep in the 
past, and the more slowly any institution has 
grown, so much the more enduring is it likely to 
prove. 

So far as present information enables us to 
form an opinion, the Mosaic Law is the first 
great landmark in the substitution of a reign of 
law and comparative justice for the reign of arbi- 
trary power and caprice in the conduct of govern- 
ment. Its principles were the result of many 
thousands of years of Egyptian civilization, fol- 
lowed by other periods of conquest, degradation, 
evolution, and civilization, culture, and govern- 
ment. Like all of his illustrious successors, 
Moses used the material which time had tried, 
which accumulated experience had proven. Nor 
does it detract from his fame as a man of genius 
and inspiration that he did not originate the more 
profound of his declarations. Was it not Fame 



MOSAIC LAW AND EVOLUTION 135 

enough that he gathered together the Laws and 
Institutions of a great and powerful Nation, 
eliminated what was unsuited to the new condi- 
tions, and compiled them into a Code, which has 
entered into the legislation of all civilized na- 
tions "What matters it, then, that we have come 
to know that the accounts of Creation, the Fall, 
the Deluge, and much else in our Sacred Books, 
were remembrances of lore obtained from the 
Chaldeans? What matters it that the Beautiful 
Story of Joseph is found to be in part derived 
from an Egyptian romance, of which the heir- 
oglyphs may still be seen? What matters it that 
the story of David and Goliath is poetry; and 
that Samson, like so many men of strength in 
other Religions, is probably a Sun Myth? What 
matters it that the inculcation of high duty in the 
childhood of the World is embodied in such 
quaint stories as those of Jonah and Balaam? 
The more we realize these facts, the richer be- 
comes that great body of literature brought to- 
gether within the covers of the Bible. What 
matters it that those who incorporated the Crea- 
tion lore of Babylonia and other Oriental Nations 
into the Sacred Books of the Hebrews, mixed 
with it their own conceptions and deductions \ 
What matters it that Darwin changed the whole 
aspect of our Christian Myths ; that Lyell and his 
compeers placed the Hebrew story of Creation 
and of the Deluge of Noah among legends ; that 
Copernicus put an end to the standing still of the 
Sun for Joshua; that Halley, in promulgating his 



136 UR HERITAGE 

law of Comets, put an end to the doctrine of 
"Signs and Wonders''; that Pinel, in showing 
that all insanity is physical disease, relegated to 
the realm of Mythology the Witch of Endor and 
all stories of demoniacal possession; that the 
Rev. Dr. ScharT, and a multitude of recent Chris- 
tian travellers in Palestine, have put into the 
realm of legend the story of Lot's wife trans- 
formed into a pillar of salt; that the anthropolo- 
gists, by showing how man has risen everywhere 
from low and brutal beginnings, have destroyed 
the whole Theological theory of the "Fall of 
Man?" Our great body of Sacred Literature is 
thereby only made more and more valuable to 
us ; more and more we see how long and patient- 
ly the Forces of the Universe, which make for 
righteousness, have been acting in and upon man- 
kind, through the only agencies fitted for such 
work in the earliest ages of the World, through 
Myth, Legend, Parable, and Poem." 
So Vin thought! 



THE JUDGESHIP 137 

CHAPTER VII 
THE JUDGESHIP 

Nations, like individuals, grow strong in ad- 
versity. We often profit more by our enemies 
than by our friends. We can support ourselves 
only by that which resists us. We owe our suc- 
cess to opposition. The Hebrew Commonwealth 
was no exception to this rule. It took time to 
subdue the desert, which must be watered by 
artificial means. The Nation grew strong in the 
stern school of adversity. In the process of time, 
the People by Industry, Care, and Toil brought 
the desert wilderness under cultivation and made 
it bloom and blossom as a garden; just as is now 
being done in Nevada. Then, the accumulation 
of wealth was rapid; and, when the tariff wall, 
which had restricted foreign commerce was 
broken down, Israel became the granary of the 
world. 

The Office of Judge, as that title is used in the 
Book of Judges, was not contemplated in the es- 
tablishment of the Commonwealth. The Epoch 
embracing the rule of Eli, as High Priest, and 
Samuel, as judge or dictator, was transitory, 
from the Democracy which preceded to the Des- 
potism, which followed. It would be presump- 
tuous to assert that all the causes which made 
Despotism possible among that people, three 
thousand years ago, can be fully traced at this 



138 OUR HERITAGE 

time. The whole subject is too new and too 
deeply hedged in by passion, prejudice, and pre- 
conception to be fully treated at the present 
time; and yet, Vin thought that it was largely 
due to one cause; the same cause, or enemy, or 
evil which has stood in the pathway of human 
progress since the dawn of the first civilization 
which this Earth ever saw; a spirit of Greed, of 
Graft, of Selfishness, accompanied by an utter 
disregard of the rights and welfare of the great 
mass of the people. It remains to be seen 
whether the People of the American Common- 
wealth will profit by the lessons of history. 

The irrigation system, which the emigrants 
brought with them from the Valley of the Nile, 
during the course of several centuries, made the 
hills and valleys of that arid, mountainous state 
bloom and blossom as a garden. The Nation 
grew rich. Wealth accumulated in a few hands. 
With material prosperity came a steady decline 
in morals and in spiritual religion. Forms and 
ritualistic ceremonies were multiplied. The Na- 
tion became imbued with a spirit of commercial 
greed and avarice. The objects of their desires 
changed. Once they had loved Equality, Justice, 
Liberty! Then they loved commerce and Fin- 
ance. The Judiciary, chief bulwark of Liberty, 
became corrupt. The Judges accepted bribes. 
The House of Levi was not exempt from the 
general corruption; the officiating priests were 
sensual and worldly. The times were perilous 
and full of danger. The surrounding nations, 



THE JUDGESHIP 139 

discovering the richness of the country, the 
weakness of the government, and the avarice of 
the people, commenced a systematic conquest, 
first commercial, and later, of arms. The Relig- 
ious capital of the Nation, situated at Shechem, 
was sacked and burned. 

Such were the circumstances, when Samuel 
arose. He roused tht People from their lethargy, 
and the "Philistines" were defeated at Mizpah, 
where a great battle was fought. Thereafter, 
Samuel ruled Israel as Judge or Dictator. His 
purpose was to effect a moral and religious re- 
formation, without which there could be no gen- 
uine patriotism. He began by admonishing and 
encouraging the principal men of the Tribes, 
when they sought his advice. Then, he went 
from city to city, from village to village, from 
hamlet to hamlet, counseling, encouraging, and 
instructing the People in their rights and duties 
as citizens. Afterwards, he founded a school for 
the education of young men. This first School 
of the Prophets was animated by the spirit of a 
teacher who was feared and revered, as no leader 
had been admired in the whole history of the 
Nation, since Moses. This School was independ- 
ent of the Theological element, and as the first 
great Teacher of Equality, Justice, and Liberty, 
as well as Morality and Religion, distinct from 
that caste, the Life and Work of Samuel are of 
great interest. He communicated his own burn- 
ing spirit wherever he went; and the number of 
his disciples was doubtless quite large. Details 



140 OUR HERITAGE 

of his work are meagre. But there can be no 
doubt that he roused the People to a new sense of 
Duty, as well as to a better and higher sense of 
Patriotism and Morality than they had before 
known, and had it not been for the influences at 
work among the wealthy classes the common- 
wealth might have been preserved. The allegori- 
cal statement, contained in the third chapter of 
the first Book of Samuel, seemed to Vin to indi- 
cate that the priesthood had become so corrupt, 
that there was a systematic effort on the part of 
the People to eliminate that institution. Under 
such circumstances, the House of Levi threw the 
great weight of its influence on the side of the 
Aristocracy in its demand for a King. Rarely, 
indeed, has the banner of the established Church 
been seen on the side of the people ! The change 
in government was strenuously opposed by Sam- 
uel, who clearly foresaw that the Monarchy 
would be accompanied by Tyranny, Oppression, 
and Injustice, from which there could be no es- 
cape, for which there would be no redress. He 
told the People in detail just what they might 
expect to suffer at the hands of any King they 
might have. The loss of personal liberty, the 
annihilation of local government, the probable 
lapse to immorality, these were evils in his eyes 
for which the attractions of Monarchy offered no 
compensation. But the People, under the influ- 
ence of so-called Progressive Leaders, disregard- 
ed the wise council of the. Venerable Statesman 
and demanded a king. Thus the Hebrew Com- 



THE JUDGESHIP 141 

monwealth, composed of Thirteen Independent 
Tribes, degenerated to Despotism. Three thou- 
sand years later, a Confederacy, composed of 
Thirteen Independent Colonies, arose to the 
Dignity of a Federal State of masterly construc- 
tion. 



142 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER VIII. 
RECREATION. 

When Vin returned home on a sultry after- 
noon in midsummer, he found a letter, the sub- 
stance of which was contained in the following 
paragraph : "Come and spend a few weeks with 
us at Carnelian Bay, and forget the curious, 
musty old books and papers which you so con- 
stantly study. Come and meet my sister-in-law, 
Marie Clairmont, who has just returned from 
Italy. If this beautiful mountain lake does not 
charm you, her music will. Our car will call for 
you tomorrow afternoon." 

This letter, evidently written impulsively and 
in some haste, was signed "Maybelle Clairmont,'' 
a beautiful woman to whom Vin had been pre- 
sented at a reception some weeks before. She had 
been the most lavishly gowned of all the women 
in that brilliant gathering. Clad in an evening 
dress of the very latest Parisian mode, fabricated 
from some soft, flimsy, dark colored material, 
which seemed to emphasize rather than to con- 
ceal the lines of her exquisitely proportioned 
form. The shade of her gown had evidently 
been selected as a contrast to her clear, warmly 
white complexion, and her abundance of light 
auburn hair; her broad, softly-rounded, cream 
white shoulders, her slender waist ; her bust and 
neck, which might well have inspired envy in the 



RECREATION 143 

Goddess of Milo; her throat encircled in a neck- 
lace of diamonds; her hands blazing with gems; 
her waist clasped by an old-gold band of antique 
workmanship, she had been an object of admira- 
tion on the part of the men, of envy to the wo- 
men of her set. How her husband could main- 
tain her in such splendor was a constant source 
of wonderment. Still there never had been any 
scandal. She held her head proudly. She walked 
like a queen. A woman, whom poets looking 
only at her fair face, might have called the em- 
bodiment of their dreams. She had been particu- 
larly gracious to Vin on that occasion. But he 
was neither charmed nor deceived. He saw the 
canker at the heart of that "Lily" that looked so 
pure and graceful. When she smiled, he thought 
of Cleopatra. He knew that the Love of such a 
woman has always been a degradation to the 
Man who accepted it, a shame to him who was 
weak enough to rely upon it. A Woman who 
makes a boast of her physical beauty ! And as 
Vin held her invitation in his hand, exhaling a 
faint perfume, he saw her again as she appeared 
at the reception that evening ; but he did not look 
upon her beautiful face ; he saw her. To him she 
was hideous, would be hideous forever. Her 
vaunted beauty was to him a mere garment of 
tissues ; perishable, shrinkable, fit only to mingle 
with the dust from whence it came. A wide ex- 
perience had taught him that such a female of 
the genus homo marries with the lie upon her 
lips; swears fidelity, before God to a husband, 



144 OUR HERITAGE 

who is apparently able to maintain her in luxury, 
with infidelity in her heart, and so makes the 
mystic union, which might otherwise be a bless- 
ing, a blasphemy and a curse. Such women cor- 
rupt the earth; turn good to evil; deepen folly 
into crime and corruption, with the seduction of 
their physical beauty, which modern society 
gowns only make more seductive; they make 
fools and beasts of men, who are weak enough 
to yield to the message of their lying eyes. Vin 
read her Soul. It was as an open book to him ; 
and it was branded with a name which Society 
gives to those who are publicly vile ; but which, 
of strict right and justice, should be bestowed on 
all women of her type, who occupy positions of 
pride and place in the world, and who have not 
even the excuse of poverty for selling themselves 
for gold. He was surprised that such a woman as 
he believed Maybelle Clairmont to be should 
think of including him among her guests, for he 
had scarcely exchanged a dozen words with her, 
and his acquaintance with Thomas Clairmont, 
her husband, who was engaged in trade, was 
hardly more extensive. His first impulse was to 
decline the invitation. Yet it so chanced that one 
of those impulses, to which we can give no name, 
but which Vin had learned to recognize, which 
frequently play a most important part in the 
unfolding of our life dramas, moved him to ac- 
cept the proffered invitation, which he had so 
unexpectedly received. No sooner had he reached 
that conclusion than the "Honk, Honk" of a large 



RECREATION 145 

touring car, as it swung into the street and 
stopped before his door, appraised him that May- 
belle Clairmont was as good as her word, that her 
car had arrived to carry him to Carnelian Bay. 
Hastily packing a few necessary clothes in a 
small portmanteau, and throwing a heavy ulster 
across his arm, Vin descended and entered the 
waiting car, which was immediately whirled 
away, with incredible swiftness, toward Lake 
Tahoe. The car moved so silently and swiftly 
that Vin concluded the motive power must be 
electricity. 

In a seemingly short space of time, the Lake 
burst upon his view. A magnificent sheet of 
azure blue water lifted six thousand feet above 
the level of the Pacific, walled in by a rim of 
snow-clad mountains which towered more than 
three thousand feet above its crystal surface. 
As Vin saw the shadows of the mountains vividly 
photographed upon its smooth, mirror-like sur- 
face, he thought it the fairest picture he had ever 
seen. It was bewitching, entrancing, enchanting, 
fascinating! The road traversed the north shore 
of the Lake, through a forest of virgin pine ; the 
shore bordered by narrow sand beaches, indented 
with deep curved bays and coves, and where the 
sand ended the mountainsides seemed to rise 
rapidly into space, like a wall slightly out of the 
perpendicular, thickly wooded with pine. This 
scene of beauty was indelibly impressed upon his 
mind as the car sped on, entered beautiful 



146 OUR HERITAGE 

grounds, and came to a stop before a large bun- 
galow, covered with mountain laurel. i 

As Vin alighted from the car, Maybelle Clair- 
mont arose from a reclining chair and came 
gracefully across the wide veranda to welcome 
him. She was clad in a simple white dress, un- 
relieved by any ornament, except a band of old 
gold which kept her hair in place ; and a knot of 
mountain violets nestled among the lace at her 
throat. She looked far lovelier than when Vin 
had first met her. There was a deep light in her 
eyes, and a slight roseate flush on either cheek, 
while her smile as she greeted him was gracious- 
ness personified. 

After greeting his hostess and the interchange 
of a few commonplace remarks, Vin's attention 
was attracted to another lady seated in a low 
wicker chair at the end of the veranda, whom he 
surmised to be Marie Clairmont. Their eyes met, 
and it seemed to Vin that he had met her before. 
But where? The eyes of his hostess, following 
his glance, a slight frown momentarily contracted 
her brows; then, with an instant return of her 
gracious manner she said, "Marie, allow me; my 
friend Vin — Mr. Vincent Kingsley !" 

As Vin bowed, Marie arose and advanced to 
meet them. Vin studied her as she moved across 
the veranda, with a vague sense of Memory, 
Wonder, Admiration; surely, she was known to 
him; at least, there was a strong resemblance to 
one whom he had known, and loved, — and lost 
awhile; — an indistinct, far-off, remembering of 



RECREATION 147 

the Soul ! Her forehead was broad and high, her 
head large for a woman. Her eyebrows long 
and level ; her dark-brown eyes at times became 
almost black ; her mouth was very expressive, not 
too large, slightly depressed at the corners ; her 
teeth were perfect ; her naturally red lips seemed 
unusually expressive. Her figure was remark- 
ably athletic, with broad, well-formed shoulders 
and naturally slender waist. Her hands looked 
small, but her fingers were unusually long and 
flexible. She could smile easily. Her laugh was 
natural. Clad in a soft, white gown, with a red 
rose nestled amid the old Flemish lace at her 
throat, she was not a beauty, yet she possessed 
a quiet dignity, a delicately subtle attractiveness, 
an undoubted individual charm, which silently 
asserted itself, just as the odor of wild roses, hid- 
den in the tangle of the hedge, delights the 
chance wayfarer with their sweet fragrance, 
though the flowers themselves be hidden from 
view. As she turned her face toward Vin, the 
last rays of the setting sun caught her dark- 
brown hair and transformed it to the similitude 
of a golden halo encircling her clear white brows. 
"I am glad to see you!" she said simply, advanc- 
ing and extending her hand to Vin. "I am quite 
^accustomed to meet strangers ; but, I already 
know Mr. Kingsley very well by reputation, at 
least. Maybelle has never tired of singing your 
praises." 

And as Vin accepted her slightly pressed her 
proffered hand, he expressed his pleasure. "I 



148 OUR HERITAGE 

could stay on here indefinitely, Miss Clairmont," 
he said, with an unwonted softness in his dark 
eyes. "Did any one ever imagine a more beauti- 
ful scene? Can the eye ever grow weary, in calm 
or storm, of gazing upon it? And the air is so 
pure and fine, so delicious, so bracing! And why 
shouldn't it be, — is it not the same the Angels 
breath ?" 

"Truly!" murmered Marie, "It is a place for 
recreation! For happy, joyous, profitable med- 
itation." 

"It is a restful corner of a tired world ! But — " 
at that moment a servant appeared at the door- 
way, "Dinner is served, Miss Clairmont!" 

They sat down to table and were waited upon 
by admirably trained servants, who apparently 
had no thought of anything than attendance 
upon their comfort. There was no trace of haste 
or excitement in the household. Seemingly 
everyone, including the servants, had determined 
to enjoy themselves to the full during their sum- 
mer sojourn at the most beautiful mountain lake 
in the world. 

That evening it was arranged to sail on the 
lake, and the entire houseparty repaired to the 
yacht Dora, one of the most magnificent vessels 
ever built for an inland lake. Steam was up, and 
in a very few moments, being loosed from her 
moorings, her bowsprit swung round and pointed 
outward from Carnelian Bay. Silently, swiftly, 
with a stately, sweeping curve, she glided across 



RECREATION 149 

the waters of the Bay into the open waters of 
the Lake. 

The Moon, large and round, was just rising 
above the snow-capped rim of mountains piled 
tier on tier, surrounding the Lake. Seated in 
groups about the deck, they watched the sentinel 
peaks put on the soft-white glory of the Moon, 
and their eyes followed the conquering light as 
it swept down among the shadows, and set the 
captive crags and forests free. They watched 
the softly tinted pictures grow and brighten upon 
the water until every detail of forest, crag, preci- 
pice, pinnacle, landslide and ravine was wrought 
in and finished, and the miracle of Nature's en- 
chantment was complete. The wonderful beauty 
of the scene imposed silence. They stopped the 
engines and allowed the yacht to drift near the 
center of the Lake. Not a breath of wind. No 
cloud in the sky. The light of the Moon fell with 
a wierd splendor across the gloom of the sur- 
rounding mountains; a beam, touching the sum- 
mit of a snow-clad peak, here and there, deepened 
the solemn, awe-inspiring effect of the Lake and 
magnified the giant forms of its sentinel moun- 
tains. Every hill and mountain, every crevice 
and crag, every shrub and giant pine had its beau- 
tiful, wierd counterpart reflected in the mirror- 
like surface of the Lake. What wonder that the 
Indian hunters, looking upward three thousand 
feet to the tops of the sentinel mountains ; look- 
ing downward three thousand feet to the re- 
flected tops of the same mountains, or others 



150 OUR HERITAGE 

like them, should imagine that this Lake was 
bewitched; that it had no bottom, but was sus- 
tained at its great altitude by the will or caprice 
of the Great Spirit! A low, soft murmur of in- 
visible streams sounded on the deep silence of 
the summer night, increasing the fascination of 
the surrounding landscape, half of which was 
only a reflection, and the whole seemingly more 
like the setting of a dream, than a stern reality of 
Life's drama. The unfathomed and unfathom- 
able depths of vast caverns lying lost among the 
slopes of the mountains, partially shrouded by a 
heavy growth of Pine, lighted now and again by 
shafts of light, reflected from the water, which 
ever and anon gleamed with phosphorescence, 
and sparkled and shone in the moonlight, as 
though charged with electricity. The stars looked 
large. The faint rippling of the water against the 
sides of the yacht, suggested the whispering of 
uncanny spirits. They were entranced by the 
grandeur of the scene and their own loneliness 
in the midst of it. 

Vin moved away from his companions, and 
leaning over the rail, looked into the shadows 
along the shore, emphasized by contrast with 
the brilliance of the Moon, and his thoughts 
travelled backward along the course of his Life, 
into those other shadows of joy and sorrow, of 
Light and Darkness, of Hope and Fear, of Vic- 
tory and Defeat, of Life and Death, which en- 
shroud the Soul, looking for the sweet face of 
Marie Clairmont. Those hills and mountains, 



RECREATION 151 

those crags and crevices, those stately pines, 
that grand old Lake, the brilliant Moon, were 
the same when the Azetec spearmen lived and 
ruled the land which is now Nevada, will be still 
the same, when those who gaze upon it now shall 
have joined the Choir Invisible. Nature and 
Nature's law remain the same throughout the 
Ages ! Man, only, may improve ! The issue 
rests with him, not with God ! How few make 
the effort to improve ! How few give heed to 
Life and its problems, either now or beyond the 
tomb! The vast majority of mankind lead a 
treadmill existence, — never changing, never 
leaving the beaten path, never seeking to im- 
prove, never advancing. They are the same their 
fathers have been, will be the same throughout 
the ages ! Just as the modern inhabitants of old 
Egypt, look quite like the portraits of their an- 
cestors engraven on the tombs five thousand 
years ago, so the heart and brain of the vast 
majority of the human race are quite the same 
now, as they have been throughout the ages. The 
toil and sorrow, the defeat and despair of the 
many, merely contrasts the improvement of the 
few. So Vin thought, as a few bars struck from 
a piano in the deck saloon startled him from his 
reverie. Could a mere piano produce harmony in 
such volume? It sounded more like an orchestra. 
He glanced around the deck, then through an 
open porthole into the saloon. His glance rested 
on the sweet face of Marie Clairmont, seated at 
the piano, and Vin remembered and knew her.. 



152 OUR HERITAGE 

The music swelled to a passionate cadence! 
Melodies, sweet as the song of a nightingale, 
crossed and recrossed each other, like rays of 
living light, glittering among green leaves; 
voices of birds and streams and waterfalls ; cries 
of gladness, songs of praise, and peans of triumph 
echoed through the tumultuous noise of some 
great pageant; and then, as he listened, in the 
midst of this there came a tune, sweet and sug- 
gestive, a joyous, loving melody that touched his 
heart and stilled its rapid beating; until, with a 
full chord of splendid harmony, that rolled out 
across the air, like a wave upon the waters of the 
JLake, the entrancing intoxicating music slowly 
ebbed away into silence. Vin's heart beat with 
the pulsations of that wondrous lyric storm. 

Maybelle Clairmont was the first to break the 
spell. Her voice sounded loud and discordant. 
None heard what she said. 

Acting upon a sudden impulse, Vin entered the 
deck saloon and approached the fair musician 
where she was still seated at the piano. 

"You have given me very great pleasure!'' — 
lie^aid. "You are a wonderful musician!" Then 
in a low, clear tone, intended for her ears alone, 
he continued, — "Tell me, Marie Clairmont, do 
you remember me? Think a moment! Is there 
not a time, upon which you can look back; and 
looking, see my face? Think! Did you ever see 
me? I refer to scenes long since past, — " 

As he spoke, a startled expression came into 
Sier eyes; she flushed slightly; wonder, joy, start- 



RECREATION 153 

led surprise, recognition, seemed struggling for 
expression, but before she could reply, Maybelle 
Clairmont, who had approached Vin from be- 
hind, with the evident intention of overhearing 
his inquiry, interrupted, — "Did I not say you 
would be charmed!" she asked, laughingly. 

"Indeed!" replied Vin gravely — "You builded 
better than you knew ! Thank you, from the bot- 
tom of my heart !" 



154 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER IX. 
THE KINGDOM OF SOLOMON. 

Saul and David were great Monarchs. They 
were not great men. Neither was a Statesman. 
In character they were fair representative types 
of the two classes of kings who reigned over the 
southern or Jewish Kingdom, during several suc- 
ceeding centuries, the one subservient to the 
House of Levi; the other, denying the authority 
of the priesthood, and resenting any interference 
in political affairs. The intense dislike of the 
ecclesiastical element to that type of ruler whom 
they could neither influence nor control is appar- 
ent in the manifest coloring of the narratives of 
the Scribes, as is their admiration for that other 
type which yielded readily to their influence and 
authority. No doubt there was some ground 
for the division of Jewish Kings into good and 
bad; but that the one class was wholly bad, or 
the other entirely virtuous or blameless, should 
not be asserted of those monarchs any more than 
the public officials of more recent times, many 
of whom, apparently without much reference to 
their moral, intellectual or spiritual attainments 
have been heralded as "defenders of the Faith!" 
Indeed, it might be justly said that Philip, the 
second, of Spain, and Nero, of Rome, were rein- 
carnations of David, son of Jesse ! 

The important point is that those first kings 



KINGDOM OF SOLOMON 155 

assumed and exercised an authority which was 
absolute in its nature over every subject of the 
realm. The laws to which the people had been 
accustomed, under the Commonwealth, were dis- 
regarded by both Saul and David. That ardent 
Love of Liberty, which had characterized the 
people of the Hebrew Commonwealth, had given 
place to the hope of conquest. The authority of 
the king was not confined by any forms of trial 
or rules of procedure. The execution of a sen- 
tence was immediate and without any appeal. 

Nevertheless, Saul did much to establish the 
kingdom. He was very successful in his wars, 
early in his career, he had incurred the displeasure 
and active enmity of the priesthood ; later he was 
denounced by Samuel. The power of the kingly 
office turned his head and developed all the latent 
evil that was in him. He never tried to concili- 
ate the House of Levi, and the turbulence in 
which his career ended may have been due to 
the hostility of the ecclesiastical element. And 
it was principally in this respect that Saul differed 
from his successor ; for whilst David was less 
moral and far more tyrannical than Saul had 
ever been, he had strong sympathies with the 
ecclesiastical element; he readily brought the 
priesthood to his support, and admitted them to 
a share in his government. Apparently from po- 
litical motives, David submitted to the rebuke of 
the High Priest for his own wrong-doing, and 
has been accredited with sincere repentance un- 
der the lash of ecclesiastical authority. David 



156 OUR HERITAGE 

and Uriah ! David, the sweet singer of Israel ! 
Did he not add Murder to Adultery! But, 
measured by the standard of the Theological 
School, for Saul there was neither repentance nor 
forgiveness ! 

Following the battle of Gilboa, in which both 
Saul and Jonathan were slain, David reigned for 
about seven years as King of Judah. The People 
of the Northern tribes were not fascinated by the 
monarchy. They were making preparations to 
return to their ancient customs and re-establish 
the Commonwealth ; but final and decisive action 
was too long delayed. Abner gained control of 
the army, proclaimed Ishbosheth King of Israel, 
and the opportunity to re-establish the Common- 
wealth was gone forever. Upon the death of 
Ishbosheth, "Came all the tribes of Israel to 
David unto Hebron," and acknowledged him as 
their sovereign lord and king. 

One of the great events of that eventful reign 
was the reduction of the ancient city of Salem, 
near the northern boundary, but within the 
territory of Judah and, because of its more central 
location, David transferred his capitol to that 
city, thenceforth know as Jerusalem. After for- 
tifying that naturally strong position, David 
built a palace with the aid of Phoenician artisans, 
furnished by Hiram, King of Tyre. Another 
great event was the transfer of the Sacred Ark to 
Jerusalem. Theretofore, the Ark had been under 
the protection of the people of Ephraim, and its 
permanent removal to Jerusalem was a source of 



KINGDOM OF SOLOMON 157 

constantly growing irritation to the people of the 
northern tribes, who felt, not without cause, that 
they had not only lost their personal and tribal 
independence, through the change in govern- 
ment, but the symbol of the national religious 
faith, as well. From that time, the discontent of 
the people of Ephraim steadily increased, and the 
chasm between the northern and southern tribes 
continued to constantly widen and grow deeper. 
Nevertheless, it was a day of joy and gladness 
when the royal hero, enthroned in his new palace, 
on that rocky summit, from which he could sur- 
vey both Ephraim and Judah, received the sym- 
bol of the national religious faith amid all the 
demonstrations which popular and theological 
enthusiasm could express ; and, as the long and 
imposing procession, headed by priests, nobles 
and generals, containing more than eight thou- 
sand priests and Levites, passed through the 
gates into the city, with shouts of song and 
praise, sacred dances, sacrificial rites, and sym- 
bolic ceremonies, the exultant Soul of David 
burst out in one of the most rapturous of his 
Songs, "Lift up your heads, O ye Gates ; and be 
ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of 
Glory shall come in!" 

There followed a period of peace. Everything 
favored material prosperity. Wealth accumulated 
in the hands of a few. Daily, the rich grew richer ; 
the poor, poorer. The King surrounded himself 
with pomps and guards. None were admitted 
to the presence without announcement and obeis- 



158 OUR HERITAGE 

ance, while David was seated upon a throne, 
bearing a golden sceptre in his hand, and wearing 
a golden and jeweled crown upon his brow. The 
King was clothed in purple and gold. He made 
powerful alliances ; he increased his army to two 
hundred and eighty thousand highly disciplined 
soldiers. During this period, the King devoted 
himself to the welfare of his subjects, and 
gathered material for the future building of a 
Temple. Afterwards, there followed a period of 
conflict. War was waged which required all the 
resources of the kingdom and taxed to the ut- 
most the ability and energy of its greatest gen- 
erals. David finally took the field as commander 
in chief and achieved a series of successes which 
extended his kingdom to the Euphrates and 
secured large and valuable spoils from the cities 
of Syria. Meanwhile, it is important to observe 
the growing discontent of the people of Ephraim 
with the established order of things. Taxes, 
tithes, requisitions for the support of the gen- 
eral government were heavy and burdensome. 
Excessive military operations increased the bur- 
den, whilst tithes to the Levites, and assess- 
ments made for the benefit of the priesthood, 
added to a special tax for the future building of 
a Temple, all of which were strenuously insisted 
upon, burdened the people almost beyond endur- 
ance. With the administration of civil justice, 
there was constant and growing dissatisfaction ; 
of criminal justice, there was none. 

Then it was that Absalom returned to Jeru- 



KINGDOM OF SOLOMON 159 

salem. He had been in exile for slaying his half 
brother, Amnon. After several years of prepar- 
ation, Absalom gained the good will of the people 
of the northern tribes and gradually made him- 
self the center of a revolutionary movement, 
which included all the tribes, except Judah; a 
movement which was strong, for it was founded 
upon a general and growing discontent and dis- 
satisfaction with the established government. It 
was weak in that it was aimed at the person of 
the sovereign. Weak, also, in the dissolute 
conduct of its leader. The revolution came as a 
complete surprise to David, who was forced to 
flee ! But the volunteer forces of Absalom were 
unable to prevail against the veteran armies of 
the King, which remained loyal under the leader- 
ship of Joab and, following the death of Absalom, 
the rebels disbanded, only to be again united 
under the leadership of Sheba, who sounded the 
trumpet of defiance from the mountains of 
Ephraim. This new movement was shortly sup- 
pressed by intrigue. 

It has been customary to associate with the 
name of Solomon the culmination of the Jewish 
Kingdom in a reign of unexampled prosperity 
and splendor. It was the Glory Period of Jeru- 
salem ! Solomon grew up amidst the troublous 
times which marked the last ten years of his fa- 
ther's reign. He was about ten years of age when 
Absalom was killed, and a youth of some fifteen 
years when he was crowned King. Following 
the revolutionary movement of Absalom, the 



160 OUR HERITAGE 

heir apparent, Adonijah, attempted to secure the 
Crown by intrigue; but, Bathsheba (Uriah's 
faithless wife), a beautiful, ambitious, voluptu- 
ous, unscrupulous woman, secured the transfer 
of the Crown to Solomon, who was crowned 
King during the life of David and with his sanc- 
tion; an abdication on the part of David which 
was quite similar to that of Charles V. of Spain. 
The kingdom, thus inherited by Solomon, was 
perhaps the most powerful in the then known 
world. It was the result of several centuries of 
prosperity under the Commonwealth, and the 
fruits of the conquests of Saul and David. 

The great trade routes between Egypt and 
the North and East were controlled by Solomon. 
The Nation was enriched by commerce. Cara- 
vans brought to' Jerusalem the most valuable 
wares from every country of the world. The 
luxuries of Tyre, chariots and horses and fine 
linen from Egypt; purple cloths and robes of 
varied colors from Assyria; Gold, Silver, Gums, 
Perfumes, Precious Stones, Ivory and Spices 
from the Indus; Gold and Silver from Spain, 
all found their way to Jerusalem, as at a later 
period they found their way to Athens, and still 
later to Rome. 

Large as was his heritage, the prosperity 
of the realm was, for a time at least, prudently 
promoted. Alliances were formed with Egypt, 
with Assyria and other nations. His first wife 
was an Egyptian Princess. The royal palace 
glistened with gold, silver and precious stones. 



KINGDOM OF SOLOMON 1G1 

Parks and Gardens were supplied with water 
from immense reservoirs. "When the youthful 
monarch repaired to those gardens in his gor- 
geous chariot, he was attended by Nobles, whose 
robes of purple floated in the wind, and whose 
long, black hair, powdered with gold dust, glis- 
tened in the sun, while the King, clothed in 
white, blazing with jewels, scented with per- 
fumes, wearing both crown and sceptre, pre- 
sented a scene of gladness and glory. When 
he travelled, he was borne on a splendid litter 
of precious woods, inlaid with gold and hung 
with purple curtains, preceded by mounted 
guards ; with princes for his companions, and 
women for his idolaters." 



162 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER X. 
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 

Although it had been the ambition of David 
to build a Temple, and whilst he had collected 
a large amount of material and money for that 
express purpose, its actual accomplishment was 
impossible because of his many military ex- 
peditions. The long and peaceful reign of his 
successor was favorable to that and other vast 
enterprises. If the statements of the Scribes 
may be accredited, it required the constant labor 
■of ten thousand men in the forests of Lebanon 
to cut and square the timber, and this for a 
period of ten years. There were several thou- 
sand ordinary laborers. Eighty thousand more 
worked in the quarries and prepared and squared 
the stone. It is difficult to see how such an 
army could work to advantage, unless, as has 
been suggested, they worked in relays, so many 
a month or quarter. 

As Mount Moriah did not furnish sufficient 
level space for the Temple site, a wall of solid 
masonry, nearly three hundred feet high was 
built on the eastern and southern sides ; and a 
fill made. Some of the stones used in the con- 
struction of this wall were twenty feet long and 
three thick, so perfectly squared that no mor- 
tar was necessary. "The buried foundations for 
the courts of this Temple, and the vast treasure 
houses still remain to attest the strength and 



TEMPLE OF SOLOMON 163 

solidity of the work ; seemingly as indestruc- 
tible as are the Pyramids of Egypt, and only 
paralleled by the uncovered ruins of the palaces 
of the Caesars on the Palatine hill at Rome, 
which fill all travellers with astonishment/' 
And although this Temple was small, compared 
with those of Egypt, the richness of its decor- 
ations, of its sacred vessels and altars, consumed 
immense quantities of gold, silver and brass, 
and made it especially remarkable. Vin saw 
a single gold leaf taken by an American vandal 
from the Palace at Pekin, which was sold for 
slightly more than three hundred dollars in 
United States gold coin. The plates of gold 
for enlarging the building and symbolic figures, 
the costly woods, the rich draperies, the brazen 
altars, the lamps and vessels of gold, the elabor- 
ate castings and carvings, the profusion of rare 
gems, must have necessitated a greater expend- 
iture than the most famous Temples of Greece, 
whose beauty and charm consisted mainly in 
their exquisite proportions and statuary. Whilst 
the skilled labor necessary to the construction of 
this Temple was furnished by Hiram, the King, 
the interior decorations were superintended by 
Hiram, the Artificer. 



164 O U R HERITAGE 

CHAPTER XL 

THE MYSTERIES. 

Among all Ancient Nations there was one 
Faith, one Religion, one Idea of Deity among 
the enlightened, educated, intelligent and initi- 
ated, there was another and very different one 
for the Common People. The Egyptians and 
early emigrants to Palestine differed from all 
other Nations in that women, among them, were 
admitted to< a knowledge of the Mysteries; but, 
at the time of which we speak, the women had 
been excluded from any share in such knowl- 
edge. 

The conceptions of God formed by individuals 
among them varied according to their mental 
and spiritual enlightenment. Poor, Imperfect, 
Unworthy, investing Deity with the commonest 
and coarsest atributes of Man among the Sen- 
sual and Vulgar; Lofty, Pure and Spiritual 
among the Intelligent and Virtuous. Vin 
thought it important to bear in mind that the 
conceptions formed by the enlightened few 
among the Hebrews were drawn from the Great 
Mysteries of Egypt. That they possessed 
a knowledge of Life and Immortality, of the 
true Nature and Attributes of God, as the same 
class of men in other Nations, such as Buddha, 
Confucius, Christna, Plato, Socrates, Zoroas- 
ter, and others, entertained, is entirely beyond 
question; but their learning was esoteric. It 



THE MYSTERIES 165 

was communicated only to those who had the 
capacity to receive and the virtue to practice it. 
Symbols were the universal language of ancient 
learning. This was the most obvious method of 
instruction, of conveying thought impressions, 
for the understanding was addressed through the 
eye. The most ancient expressions, denoting the 
communication of thought, signify ocular exhibi- 
tion. The first teachers of mankind adopted this 
method of instruction, which comprises an end- 
less store of pregnant hieroglyphics. The an- 
cient sages, both Barbarian and Greek, involved 
their learning in similar indirect methods or 
enigmas. Their lessons were communicated 
either by visible symbols, or in those parables and 
"Dark sayings of Old," which the Hebrews 
considered it a sacred duty to hand down un- 
changed to successive generations. The Myster- 
ies, both great and lesser, were a series of sym- 
bols, and what was spoken during their commun- 
ication consisted wholly of accessory explana- 
tions of a particular symbol, "sacred commen- 
taries, explanatory of established symbols, with 
little of those independent traditions, embodying 
physical or moral speculations, in which the 
elements or the planets were the actors, and the 
creation and revolutions of the world were inter- 
mingled with recollections of ancient events ; and 
yet, with so much of that also, that Nature 
became her own expositor, through the medium 
of arbitrary symbolical instruction; and the an- 
cient views of the relation between the Human 
and Divine received dramatic forms." 



166 OUE HERITAGE 

It is through the Mysteries, said Cicero, that 
we have learned the first principles of Life. 
The Mysteries were a sacred drama, exhibiting 
some legend significant of Nature's changes, of 
the visible Universe in which the Deity is re- 
vealed, and whose import was, in many re- 
spects, as open to the Profane as to the Initiates. 
Nature is the Great Teacher of Mankind. It is 
the revelation of God. It neither dogmatizes 
nor attempts to tyrannize, by emphasizing a par- 
ticular creed or system of Faith. It presents its 
symbols, faithfully and uniformly, and leaves 
Man to draw his own conclusions. It presents 
the Text without any special commentary ; and 
as all history shows, it is the Man-made com- 
mentary which leads to Error, to Heresy, to 
Persecution. 

The Great Teachers of mankind have not only 
adopted the lessons of Nature, but so far as pos- 
sible they have adhered to her method of instruc- 
tion. "In the 'Mysteries, beyond the current tra- 
ditions or sacred and enigmatic recitals of the 
Temples, few explanations were given to the 
spectators, who were left, as in the School of 
Nature, to make inferences for themselves." No 
other method could have suited every degree of 
intelligence. To employ Nature's universal 
symbolism, instead of the technicalities of lan- 
guage, rewards the humblest inquirer, and dis- 
closes its secrets to everyone in proportion to 
his preparatory training and his power to com- 
prehend them. If their deeper philosophical 
meaning were lost to some, their moral and po- 



THE MYSTERIES 167 

litical signification were within the reach of all,. 

The speculations of the Wise Men of Persia, 
of Hindostan, of Arabia, of Chaldea and Phoen- 
icia were known to the Heremetic Brotherhood 
of Egypt and by them taught in the Great Mys- 
teries; their learning was carried thence to Pal- 
estine by Moses and his compeers, and added to 
from time to time. It was known to the Essenes. 

Initiation was a school in which the candidate 
was taught the lessons of Nature, the existence 
of one God, the Immortality of the Individual, 
the Everlastingness of Life, Rewards and Pun- 
ishments in a future state beyond the tomb, the 
Phenomena of Nature, the Arts, the Sciences, 
Legislation, Morality, Philosophy, Metaphysics, 
Animal Magnetism, and other occult sciences. 
Initiation was also regarded as a mystical Death. 
There, the stains and imperfections of a Life of 
Error were purged away, and the Soul, reborn, 
was restored to a renovated existence of Life, 
Light, and Immortality, under the loving care 
and protection of the Supreme God, its Father 
in Heaven. Public odium was cast upon those 
who refused to be Initiated. They were con- 
sidered Profane, unworthy of public employment 
or private confidence, and believed to be doomed 
to Eternal Punishment. To betray the secrets 
of Initiation, or to hold the Mysteries up to 
ridicule was to court death at the hands of public 
vengeance. 

The Temple of Solomon presented a symbolic 
image of the Universe. In its arrangement and 
its furniture, it resembled the Temples of all the 



168 OUR HERITAGE 

nations which practiced the Great Mysteries. 
All of the interior decorations were mystically 
and symbolically connected with the same sys- 
tem. The ceiling, starred like the firmament, 
was supported by twelve columns, each repre- 
senting a month of the year, the border that ran 
around the columns represented the Zodiac, and 
one of the twelve celestial signs was appropri- 
ated to each column. The brazen sea was sup- 
ported by twelve oxen, three facing each cardi- 
nal point, and representing the seasons. The 
Lamp was symbolic of that Light of Reason, 
which enables man to read, in the Great Book 
of Nature, the record of the Wisdom, the 
Strength, the Harmony, the Goodness, the Reve- 
lation, the Thought of the Grand Architect of the 
Universe. But now, as in all former ages, only 
the intelligent few, among the Adepts, can fully 
understand or appreciate the profounder mean- 
ings concealed in the symbols of the Temple of 
Solomon. Is it strange, therefore, that the Theo- 
logians have puzzled their brains with unprofit- 
able speculations regarding their meaning? The 
two Schools are fundamentally opposed to each 
other. 

In his description of the vestments of the High 
Priest, Josephus, protesting against the charge 
of impiety made against the Hebrews, by certain 
writers, for condemning the deities of other na- 
tions, declared the accusation false, because, in 
the construction of the Temple, in the vestments 
of the sacrificers, and in the sacred vessels, the 



THE MYSTERIES 169 

whole world was represented. Of the three parts 
into which the Temple was divided, two repre- 
sented the land and the sea, which are open to 
all men, and the third represented heaven which 
is the dwelling place of God and reserved for 
him alone. "The twelve loaves of shew bread 
signify the twelve months of the year. The can- 
dlestick represented the twelve signs through 
which the seven planets run their courses, and, 
the seven lights, those planets ; the veils, of four 
colors, the four elements ; the tunic of the High 
Priest, the Earth ; the hyacinth, nearly blue, the 
heavens; the gold, light; the breastplate, in the 
middle, this Earth in the center of the Universe ; 
the two sardonyxes, used as clasps, the Sun and 
the Moon; and the twelve precious stones of the 
breast-plate, arranged by threes, like the seasons, 
the twelve months, and the twelve signs of the 
zodiac." Even the loaves were arranged in two 
groups of six, like the zodiacal signs above and 
below the Equator. Clemens, the learned 
bishop of the early Christian Church at Alexan- 
dria, and Philo, the Therapeut, adopted all these 
explanations. 



170 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER XII. 

KNOW THYSELF. 

The ceremony of Initiation occupied a portion 
of three days. Beginning on the evening of 
what is now Friday, it continued through that 
night, through the following day and night, and 
terminated at dawn of the Third Day. After hav- 
ing been instructed, the candidate was left in 
total darkness, with the admonition to meditate! 
At the approach of dawn on the third day, the 
chamber in which the candidate was seated was 
so arranged that the first rays of the rising sun 
struck the wall opposite the candidate, and there, 
in letters of Living Light, he might read the 
equivalent for the words, "MAN, KNOW THY- 
SELF!" 

The three Pillars of the Portico represented 
the Attributes of Deity, namely Wisdom, 
Strength, and Harmony. The ancient Egyp- 
tians arranged their deities in triads : "The Fa- 
ther (or Spirit, or Active Principle, or Genera- 
tive Power;) the Mother, (or Matter, or Passive 
Principle, or the Conceptive Power;) and the 
Son (Issue or Product,) the Universe proceeding 
from those two principles. These were Osiris, 
Isis, and Horus." In the same manner, Plato 
postulates Thought, the Father, the Primitive 
Matter, the Mother; and Kosmos, the Son, the 
Universe animated by a Soul. The German 



KNOW THYSELF 171 

Druids worshipped a Triune Deity : ODIN, the 
Father; Frea, his wife, emblem of Universal 
Matter; and Thor, their Son, the Mediator. But, 
above these, was their Supreme God, "the author 
of everything that existeth, the Eternal, the An- 
cient, the Living and Awful Being, the Searcher 
into concealed things, the Being that never 
changeth." In like manner, the Christian 
Church, both Protestant and Catholic, worships 
the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
Such also were the popular notions regarding the 
meaning of the Three Pillars of the Portico ; but, 
to the Adepts, they had a far deeper meaning and 
a more potent signification. The following is 
one of the propositions which Pathagoras 
learned from his Initiation into the Egyptian 
Brotherhood : "In every rightangled triangle, the 
sum of the squares of the base and perpendicular 
is equal to the square of the hypothenuse." Pur- 
suant to this, the forty-seventh proposition of 
Euclid, if the Individual Life represent the base 
of the triangle, and Universal Nature the per- 
pendicular, the hypothenuse will represent the 
Soul, the product or result of the Harmonious 
Relation or Co-operation of the Individual Life 
with those principles of Nature which condition 
the Evolution, the Growth, the Unfolding De- 
velopment of Human Life on this Earth — and 
we obtain a glimpse of the Esoteric Significa- 
tion of the Three Pillars of the Temple of Solo- 
mon. 



172 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER XIII. 
THE CROSS. 

The Cross has been a sacred symbol from the 
most remote antiquity. It is found upon all of 
the enduring monuments of the world, in Egypt, 
in Assyria, in Arabia, in Hindostan, in Persia, 
and on the Buddhist towers of Ireland. The Ger- 
man Druids trimmed an oak tree into its shape, 
and held it sacred. They built their Temples in 
its form. It was revered in Mexico and Peru at 
the time of the Spanish conquest. It is certain, 
says an old writer, that the Indians, the Egyp- 
tians, and the Arabians paid veneration to the 
sign of the Cross thousands of years before the 
birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Pointing to the four 
quarters of the Universe, the Cross was every- 
where symbolic of Universal Nature. Its four 
points represented the four cardinal points, the 
four minor colors, the four principal elements, 
and the four seasons. Taken as a whole, it was 
symbolic of the Great Book of Nature, wherein 
all generations of mankind may read the record 
of the Wisdom, the Strength, the Harmony of 
the Grand Architect of the Universe. And 
whilst, in later centuries, the Cross became an 
instrument of Inquisition and even of Death, 
(Christna, the Hindoo Redeemer, was said to 
have expired upon a cruciform tree, his side 
pierced with arrows) ; yet, we should remember 



THE CROSS 173 

that to the ancient Egyptian Brotherhood, as 
well as to the Essenes, the Cross was pre-emi- 
nently a symbol of Life. Not Death, Life ! That 
Life which was in Buddha and Confucius, in 
Zoroaster and Jesus, in Christna and Socrates, 
and all the other Great Lights of the World since 
the dawn of Civilization; that Eternal Life for 
which we all hope through Faith in the Infinite 
Goodness and Mercy of our Father in Heaven ! 

"In the Cross I glory, — 

Towering o'er the wrecks of time; 
All the Light of Sacred Story, 
Gathers round its head, sublime. 

"When the woes of life o'ertake me, 
Hopes deceive and fears annoy; 
Never shall the Cross forsake me, 
Lo! It glows with peace and joy. 

"When the sun of bliss is beaming, 
Light and Love upon my way — 
From the Cross a radiance streaming, 
Adds more lustre to the day. 

"Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure, 
By the Cross are sanctified, 
Peace is there which knows no measure, 
Joys that through all time abide." 

Associated with the Cross in many of the an- 
cient Temples is found the Serpent, coiled in the 
form of a circle. In this form, the Serpent was 
the Symbol of Eternity. The Rose is an ancient 



174 OUR HERITAGE 

Symbol of the Dawn; of the coming of the Life 
and the Light of a new day. And these Symbols, 
the Cross, the Serpent, and the Rose, taken to- 
gether, may be read, The Dawn of Eternal Life ! 
— of which, Initiation into the Great Mysteries 
was regarded as the first step. 

All of the philosophers and legislators who 
made antiquity illustrious were students of the 
Initiation, and all the beneficent modifications 
in the institutions, law, and religion of the sev- 
eral peoples instructed by them were owing to 
their extension and establishment of the Great 
Mysteries. In the chaos of popular institutions, 
those Mysteries alone kept Humanity from laps- 
ing into absolute brutishness. "Zoroaster and 
Confucius drew their doctrines from the Myster- 
ies." Clemens, of Alexandria, speaking of the 
Great Mysteries, said : "Here ends all instruc- 
tion ; Nature and all things are seen and known." 
Had moral Truth alone been taught the Initiate, 
the Mysteries never could have deserved nor 
received the magnificent eulogiums of the most 
enlightened men of antiquity, — of Pindar, Plu- 
tarch, Isocrates, Diodorus, Plato, Euripidas, 
Socrates, Aristophanes, Cicero, Epictetus, Mar- 
cus-Aurelius, and many others, philosophers hos- 
tile to the sacerdotal spirit, or historians devoted 
to the investigation of ,Truth. No! All the 
sciences were taught there, and those oral or 
written traditions, briefly communicated, which 
reached back to the Dawn of Civilization, the 
first age of the world. 



PEOPLE OF EPHRAIM 175 

CHAPTER XIV. 
THE PEOPLE OF EPHRAIM. 

Immediately after the dedication of the Tem- 
ple, other gigantic works were commenced and 
carried to completion. A special palace was con- 
structed for the Egyptian Queen, Solomon's 
first wife. Connected with those several palaces 
were extensive gardens, constructed and main- 
tained at great expense, filled with all the tri- 
umps of horticultural art, and watered with 
streams from vast reservoirs. In those gardens, 
the luxurious court could wander among beds 
of spices, fruits and flowers ; but, the voluptuous 
King was not content. The People were enslaved 
to aggrandize a single Man. The ancient Tri- 
bal divisions were disregarded, and the whole 
country was divided into twelve revenue districts, 
which were sold to the highest bidder for cash. 
The tax collectors made large sums from the 
excess taxation which they exacted. The forced 
labor by which the public improvements were 
made sapped the loyalty of the people. National 
prosperity is ever based upon private industry, 
on farms, orchards, ranches, vineyards owned, 
operated, and cultivatel by individual citizens. 
The support of an enormous harem was a scan- 
dal and disgrace to the entire nation, and filled 
the more virtuous people of the northern tribes 
with loathing and disgust for all the trappings 



176 OUR HERITAGE 

of monarchy and arbitrary power, which they 
retained as an ethnic characteristic long after 
Solomon and his kingdom had ceased to be re- 
membered among them. The heavy burden 
which David had laid upon the nation was in no 
manner lightened during the reign of the most 
voluptuous tyrant the world has ever seen. The 
small measure of Liberty accorded the people by 
Saul and David entirely disappeared under the 
regime of their profligate and dissolute successor. 
The prediction and warning of Samuel, fore- 
shadowed from the first establishment of the 
Monarchy, was realized to the full under the 
grinding despotism of Solomon. The vast accu- 
mulation of wealth and luxury in the hands of 
a few, accompanied by abject poverty on the part 
of the many, was but a poor exchange for that 
Patriotism and Religious enthusiasm which had 
led the Hebrew people to victory during the 
early years of the Commonwealth. 

Solomon was exalted to the highest pinnacle 
of material splendor. He descended to the low- 
est abyss of shame. He did not perpetuate his 
greatness. He squandered a great inheritance. 
With all his vaunted wisdom and early piety, he 
became an egotist, a sensualist, and a tyrant. 
What vanity he displayed before the Queen of 
Sheba ! What a slave to passion ! How disgrace- 
ful his conduct! How hard the bondage to 
which he subjected his people! Moreover, if we 
turn from the glamor and shame of the Court to 
a consideration of the representatives of the 



PEOPLE OF EPHRAIM 177 

Theological School, we find, as stated by one of 
the poets of that era, that "The Priest and Pro- 
phet have erred through strong drink; they err 
in vision, they stumble in judgment, for all tables 
are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is 
no place clean." 



More than a year elapsed, after the death of 
Solomon and the accession of his son as King 
of Judah, before Rehoboam took any action to 
bring the northern people, hereafter referred to 
as Ephraim, under his sceptre. Then it was that 
Rehoboam met the Elders of Ephraim at 
Shechem for the purpose of inducing them to 
acknowledge him as their king. But the Peo- 
ple of Ephraim had called Jeroboam, who had 
been an industrious, active, strong-minded youth, 
whom Solomon had promoted and made much of, 
and later exiled because of his too great ambi- 
tion; and Jeroboam and all the Elders of Eph- 
raim, said unto the King of Judah : "Thy Father 
made our yoke grievous ; now, therefore, make 
thee the grievous service of thy Father, and his 
heavy yoke, which he put upon us, lighter, and 
we will serve thee." That is the first plain ref- 
erence in all history to the proposition, immor- 
talized by Jefferson, that "Governments derive 
their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned." Rehoboam was not prepared with an 
answer. He asked for three days in which to 
consider his reply. He first sought advice from 



178 OUR HERITAGE 

those venerable men who had been among his 
father's counsellors; their advice, had it been 
acted upon, might have changed the course of 
history. "Gentle words, timely concessions, and 
kind treatment would bind the northern tribes 
to him forever." But their advice was not in ac- 
cord with the ambition of Rehoboam, who 
turned to the younger generation of courtiers. 
Court sycophants and party hacks can always be 
found to defend the usurpation or abuse of arbi- 
trary power. The light insolence, the sophomo- 
ric greenness, the inexperience of Rehoboam's 
chosen advisers knew no right but might. Who 
were the People of Ephraim, that they dare op- 
pose the will of their rightful king? Rehoboam 
should treat them as slaves ! Instead of lighen- 
ing, he should increase their burdens ! His lit- 
tle finger should be heavier upon them than his 
father's loins ! Instead of using common whips, 
such as Solomon's taskmasters had used, he should 
chastise them with scorpions ! When this de- 
cision was communicated to the Elders of 
Ephraim, they instantly raised the rallying-cry, 
which, in the time of Dav.d, under Absalom and 
Sheba, had well nigh anticipated the drama 
then to be enacted: 

"What portion have we in David? 
What inheritance in Jesse's son? 

To your tents, O Israel! 
Now see to your own house, O David !" 

Appalled at the result of his decision, Reho- 
boam sent Adoram, who had been the chief task- 



PEOPLE OF EPHRAIM 179 

master during the odious past, to pacify the peo- 
ple, seek their forgiveness for his harsh words, 
promise them the desired reforms, and persuade 
them to acknowledge him as their king. Reho- 
boam's choice of an ambassador was unfortunate 
as his decision had been ; and "all Israel stoned 
him with stones that he died !" Terrified, Re- 
hoboam fled to Jerusalem ! Never again was a 
king of Judah seen within the borders of 
Ephraim ! 



180 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER XV. 
THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. 

We take leave at this point of the Southern 
Kingdom. It has been assumed that the People 
of Ephraim struggled through some two hundred 
years of anarchy and civil strife and were finally 
carried into captivity by the armies of Assyria 
and dispersed or perhaps destroyed, and whilst 
that was doubtless the fate of their tribal organi- 
zations there had been a considerable migration 
northward, across the Bosphorus, into Europe, 
during those centuries of civil strife; just as our 
immediate ancestors abandoned Europe and 
sought a new home in America in the seven- 
teenth century; just as many people from our 
own country are now seeking a new home in the 
Canadian northwest, so they sought refuge in 
the Forests of Germany. 

The expectation of the Elders of Ephraim 
that the reforms they had demanded from Reho- 
boam would be secured to them under the new 
government was doomed to disappointment; in- 
stead of the desired reforms, the government 
soon became more arbitrary than before the 
revolution. Meanwhile, Jeroboam established 
his capitol at Shechem. According to the tradi- 
tion of the period, "No spot could have been 
more delightful for a royal residence, and it was 
besides, not only the chief town of Ephraim, but 



KINGDOM OF ISRAEL 181 

the most ancient sanctuary of Israel in Palestine. 
Abraham had raised an altar in its valley; Jacob 
had bought land and dug his famous well in it; 
it contained Joseph's grave; and Joshua had 
caused the Blessings and Curses of the law to 
be read from Mounts Ebal and Gerizim on its 
northern and southern sides." But the people of 
that ancient and historical city were chary of 
Liberty. Having but little love for the institu- 
tions of monarchy, they hated arbitrary power. 
Many generations before, they had crowned 
Abimelech as their king with great popular ac- 
claim, and, almost immediately, they had turned 
against him. They early gave Jeroboam trouble. 
His seat of government was changed several 
times during his short reign. 

During the period of about two centuries, the 
People of Ephraim successively chose the ablest 
and more virtuous of their leaders as their king. 
Each successive monarch was animated, almost 
from the moment he became such, by a spirit of 
Tyranny. The government changed continually. 
Each change made it more arbitrary. "Dynas- 
ties rose and fell at short intervals, most of them 
in the second generation ; only one survived 
until the fifth." During that period there were 
nineteen kings of Ephraim. Many of them were 
assassinated. Nearly all died violent deaths. 
Some of the revolutions were the work of the 
army alone; such, in turn, were overthrown by 
a more popular movement. Members of the 
Commonwealth, advanced to political power, 



182 OUR HERITAGE 

rioted on the public spoils. The people, amazed 
at so many revolutions, in vain attempted to es- 
tablish a free government. 

Gloomy and dreadful as is the picture, one 
point stands out, clearly and distinctly defined, 
throughout this period of anarchy and fratracidal 
strife : Every popular movement was an effort on 
the part of the people to re-establish the free in- 
stitutions enjoyed by their ancestors under the 
Commonwealth. Their efforts were misdirected. 
They struck at the person of the tyrant, rather 
than at the source of his authority and, therefore, 
their efforts were turned to naught. This, as we 
have seen, is the principal reason why revolu- 
tions prove abortive. Reforms, to be effective, 
must be leveled at the authority of the execu- 
tive. They must be moderate, but persistent as 
the evil they are calculated to eradicate. But 
the People of Ephraim, frequently thwarted by 
unscrupulous leaders, fought on, with a devotion 
to the cause of Equality, Justice, and Liberty, 
which gave promise of a better world. 

During that period of Anarchy, the Theologi- 
cal School abandoned the north country, and 
thereafter lived in and around Jerusalem. Rarely 
indeed have the members of that School been 
found on the side of the people in their efforts to 
establish a free government. The corner stone 
of traditional faith is conservatism. And whilst 
the great majority of the representatives of the 
Theological School, adhering rigidly to their in- 
fallible traditions of the past, became as sensual 



KINGDOM OF ISRAEL 183 

and worldly, as irreligious and dissipated in their 
habits of life, as were the Priests of Rome in the 
days of Martin Luther, there were doubtless a 
few exceptions. During that period, the School 
of the Prophets produced some of the most re- 
markable men the world has ever known. Elijah 
and Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah, and some few 
others, still tower, like Beacon Lights, over the 
common ruin of the priesthood, pointing Hu- 
manity to the Hills from whence cometh our 
strength. Their doctrines that there is but one 
God — immutable, infinite, changeless ; that he is 
Just and Good, and has a parental interest in the 
welfare and improvement of mankind; that 
Light will overcome Darkness; that Good will 
conquer Evil; that Truth will vanquish Error, — 
these grains of Truth they garnered with pains- 
taking care, from the Zend Avesta and the 
Vedas; from Egypt, India, and Persia; from 
Buddha, Christna, and Confucius ; from Herodo- 
tus and Pathagoras; from the Great Mysteries 
of the world, and with a Faith which never fal- 
tered, passed them on through fires of Persecu- 
tion and storms of Political and Theological 
strife to our own times. 

The silent paths by which Truth has passed 
from nation to nation, from country to country, 
from age to age, never can be fully traced; but 
there remain a few great landmarks which Error, 
Persecution, and Mistaken Zeal have failed to 
obliterate. About a thousand years before the 
birth of Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha reformed the 



184 OUR HERITAGE 

religious teaching of Manous; he called to the 
priesthood all men, without distinction of rank 
or caste, who felt inspired to study and teach; 
his disciples were known as Samaneans. They 
recognized the existence of a single, uncreated 
God, in whose bosom everything grows, is de- 
veloped and transformed, and whose feasts were 
those of the Solstices. The doctrines of Buddha 
pervaded India, China, and Japan. The Priests 
of Brahma, professing a dark and bloody creed, 
fit offspring of the Theological School, united 
against Buddhism and, with the aid of Despot- 
ism, exterminated its followers; but blood only 
served to fertilize their doctrines, and produced 
a new society called Gymnosophists. A large 
number of that sect fled to Ireland, and there 
they erected the round towers, some of which 
still stand, solid and unshaken as at first, visible 
monuments of the remotest ages. 

Manifestly, there were but two avenues of 
escape open to the People of Ephraim in their 
losing conflict with Arbitrary Power: They 
might return to their allegiance to the House of 
David, and the Faith of their Fathers as misrep- 
resented by an offensive priesthood. From that 
'course the free and independent spirits of the 
People of Ephraim, seven thousand of whom 
worshipped the Supreme Architect of the Uni- 
verse in spirit and in truth, turned with loathing 
and disgust. The Odious, Sensual, Drunken 
jLevites, Priests of the Temple, Servants of the 
Altar, disciples of the Theological School though 



KINGDOM OF ISRAEL 185 

they were, formed an insuperable barrier, which 
the liberty-loving people of Ephraim would not 
pass. The alternative led those loyal defenders 
of their cherished institutions and laws into the 
unknown, northern wilderness to seek a better 
country, where they and their posterity might be 
free! And as we proceed to examine this inter- 
esting subject, it will be seen that the People of 
Ephraim reached Europe where, encountering 
the Romans, they were called German by Caesar 
and Tacitus, because, as the name implied, they 
were Shouters in Battle. It will be seen that the 
Saxons carried their laws and institutions to 
England, where they were ever ready to defend 
them with their blood. How their laws and in- 
stitutions were crushed to earth by the Danish 
invasion, and how Alfred, the greatest of revo- 
lutionary heroes, and one of the wisest monarchs 
that ever sat on a throne, made the first use of 
his power, after the Saxons restored it, to re- 
establish their ancient laws. How their laws 
were again trampled under foot by the Norman 
conquerors, and how the evils resulting from the 
want of them united all classes in the effort 
which compelled King John to restore them by 
Magna Charta. It will be seen how, during 
many generations, the English people struggled 
for their rights with the Plantagenets, the Tu- 
dors, and the Stuarts ; and how the struggle 
finally ended in the revolution of 1688, when the 
liberties of the English people were placed upon 
an impregnable basis by the Bill of Rights. 



186 OUR HERITAGE 

"For Freedom's battle, once begun, 
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft, is ever won!" 



THE ESSENES 187 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE ESSENES. 

On a beautiful morning in August, 191 — , 
Maybelle Clairmont's guests assembled on the 
broad veranda overlooking the lake. The for- 
est surrounding the villa on three sides was dense 
and cool, the sky cloudless and brilliant with 
sunshine, the broad lake spread out before them 
was smooth and tranquil, but ever and anon the 
water rippled and sparkled as though charged 
with electricity; while the circling border of 
mountain peaks, clothed with evergreen trees, 
scarred by landslides, cloven by canyons and 
caverns, crowned with glittering snow, fitly 
framed the picture. 

"Since today is Sunday, and the conventions 
forbid our doing anything," began Maybelle 
Clairmont, "I propose that Mr. Kingsley tell us, 
— he has a lecture on the subject, — something 
about Jesus of Nazareth, — that isn't the title, 
but I am sure we will all be interested. What is 
the title of the lecture, Mr. Kingsley?" 

"Jesus, the Essene!" responded Vin, gravely. 

"Jesus, the Essene!" repeated Thomas Clair- 
mont. "That seems to be a new title ! May I 
ask what it implies?" 

"Certainly," said Vin. "You may ask and be 
answered!" — and after a moment's hesitation, 
he continued, "But, if I am to deliver the lecture, 
perhaps I had better not anticipate — " 



188 OUR HERITAGE 

"Please tell us now" — urged Marie Clairmont. 

"Briefly stated," said Vin, "Jesus of Nazareth 
was a student of the School or Society known as 
Essenes. They believed that Truth was not to 
be found in any one Creed and they, therefore, 
deemed it to be the duty of every Wise Man to 
gather Truth from the several quarters where 
it might be found and to employ it, when thus 
united, in destroying the dominion of Error and 
Vice. In that School — " 

"Do you find anything about the Essenes in 
the Bible?" interrupted Thomas Clairmont. 

"No!" said Vin, "but they are quite fully de- 
scribed by Josephus and other ancient writers !" 

"Then, do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth 
was Divine?" asked Maybelle Clairmont. 

"Yes, and No," — replied Vin. "He was Divine 
just as you or I, or any other individual, who is 
true to the best that is in him, may be, or become 
Divine. He was hardly Divine in any other 
sense." 

"Then you are not a Christian!" again inter- 
rupted Maybelle Clairmont. 

"Indeed, No !— There is no such thing!" Vin 
spoke with such conviction that for a moment 
all seemed at a loss for a reply, at length — "In- 
deed !"— murmered Maybelle, vaguely. Vin 
burst out laughing.— "Indeed !"— Is that all you 
can find to say. The word "Christian" is a 
misnomer. There is no such being alive. You 
are not a Christian,— no man is. Many people 
pretend to be ! Now, I make no such pretension. 
I am not a 'Christian !' I have but one faith, — " 



THE ESSENES 189 

"And that is?" — asked Marie. 

"A very profound one !" — replied Vin in thrill- 
ing tones. "The Faith of the Masters, of whom 
Jesus, of Nazareth, the Essene, was one. And the 
best of it is that it is True ! As True as a Flower 
or a Tree is True, as True as are the workings 
of the Universe !" 

"Do tell us about the Essenes !" — urged Marie. 

There was a moment's tense silence. Then 
Vin spoke in measured, distinct accents, with 
the easy and assured manner of a practised 
orator : 

"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea 
in the days of Herod, the king, the Jews were a 
perculiar product. Their ancestors had spent 
some time in captivity, where they became fa- 
milar with the doctrines of Asia and more espe- 
cially with those of Chaldea and Persia. 

"In the fruitful and easily irrigated region be- 
tween the Euphrates and the Tigris, where the 
natural incentives to civilization were inferior 
only to those of the Valley of Egypt, no less than 
three of the Great Monarchies of the ancient 
world — Chaldea, Assyria, Babylonia, — were es- 
tablished, rose to power, flourished, declined, and 
fell, each in its turn! That is the land of fabu- 
lous wisdom and romance known to the authors 
of the Old Testament as the East. The Chal- 
deans have been proverbial for their learning for 
more than three thousand years. The Author of 
the Book of Daniel speaks of the Chaldeans as 
interpreters of Stars and Signs; the poets and 
historians of Rome designate by the name, 



190 OUR HERITAGE 

Chaldean, whoever was famous in a knowledge of 
the Stars, the Love of Books, the Gift of Proph- 
ecy. The same reputation is diffused in other 
Literature. The mighty cities which they 
founded are hardly any longer to be distin- 
guished from the dust of the plain, the winding 
sheet of their material greatness ; but, that 
beautiful astrological idolatory of which they 
were the authors has entered into the dreams and 
poems of all lands, and has pierced with its 
tender glow, even the gloom and melancholy 
of Byron: 

"Ye Stars! Which are the poetry of Heaven! 
If in your bright leaves we would read the fate 
Of men and empires, — 'tis to be forgiven 
That in our aspirations to be great, 
Our destines o'erleap their natural State 
And claim a kindred with you ; for ye are 
A beauty and a mystery, and create 
In us, such Love and Reverence from afar 
That fortune, fame, power, Life, have named 

Themselves, a Star !" 
The nobler part of Chaldea, as of every land and 
kindred, can never perish. The traditions of an- 
tiquity point to two cities as the fountains of 
Human Wisdom, — Memphis, in Egypt; and 
Babylon of the Chaldees ! 

"During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles 
had been accorded many privileges. Their judges 
were selected from among their own people. 
Many of them held high office. Daniel was the 
friend and counsellor of the king, and chief of the 
College of Wise Men at Babylon. Mordecai was 



THE ESSENES 191 

Prime Minister; Esther, his cousin, was the mon- 
arch's wife. The bond which made such relations 
possible between captive and captor was Fra- 
ternity, based upon a mutual knowledge of the 
Mysteries. 

"The returning exiles were but a remnant of 
the Tribe of Judah which had been carried into 
captivity. More remained voluntarily in Assyria 
and Persia than returned to Judea. The Temple, 
rebuilt by Zerubbabel, bore but a feeble resem- 
blance to that which Nebuchadnezzar had 
destroyed. It had no costly vessels, no golden 
ornaments, no expensive draperies, and although 
the walls of the city were partially restored, the 
streets of Jerusalem were filled with debris, and 
the ruins of ancient palaces and temples were 
everywhere. The vast treasures, which had been 
accumulated under the old monarchy, formed no 
inconsiderable portion of the gold and silver 
which enriched the Babylonian and Persian kings. 
The wealth of one of the richest cities of the 
ancient world had been carried to Babylon, only 
to be seized by Alexander in his conquests of the 
East ; then, to be hoarded by Syrian and Egyptian 
kings, who succeeded Alexander; and finally, it 
was carried in triumph to Rome by Caesar. 
Whatever ruin war may cause ; whatever palaces 
and temples it may raze; whatever libraries and 
statuary it may destroy, the precious metals 
have always been seized and carried away. 

"For the space of some two hundred years after 
their return from captivity, the Jews were, per- 
haps, more sincerely religious than they had been 



192 OUR HERITAGE 

during any period of their history. They kept 
with a slavish and fanatical observance, all the 
technicalities which successive generations of the 
Order of Aaron had engrafted onto the Mosaic 
law. They kept the Sabbath, which began on the 
evening of what is now Friday, with a strictness 
unknown to their ancestors. Fasts and ritual- 
istic ceremonies were multiplied. Then it was 
that the remnant of the Nation became Jews in 
the popular acceptance of that term. Then, that 
they developed all those traits of character which 
they have ever since retained. The People who 
migrated from Egypt, under the leadership of 
Moses, who established the Hebrew Common- 
wealth, who made the Kingdom of Solomon illus- 
trious, who finally settled Northern Europe, were 
not the narrow and fanatical tribe or remnant 
known as Jews. Indeed, any individual may 
develop the same traits of character which now 
characterize the Jewish people, and in the same 
manner which they acquired them. The treat- 
ment accorded the Jews, during the dark centu- 
ries of the Christian era, simply tended to aggra- 
vate and emphasize those characteristics. 

"After their return from Babylonia, the domi- 
nant order was that of the Pharisees, and whether 
that name was derived from the 'Parsees' who 
were disciples of Zoroaster, or from some other 
source, it is certain that their doctrines were bor- 
rowed from the Persians in large part. The The- 
ology taught by the authors of the Old Testa- 
ment borrowed at every period of its existence 
from every Creed with which it came in contact. 



THE ESSENES 193 

It was one thing in the days of Moses and Aaron, 
another in those of David and Solomon, and 
another and very different thing in those of 
Daniel and Philo. Like the disciples of Zoroas- 
ter, the Pharisees claimed to have an exclusive 
and mysterious knowledge of the true meaning of 
the sacred writings, which were wholly unknown: 
to the common people. Like them, they taught: 
that a constant war is waged between the good 
and evil. Like them, they believed in the 'Sin,' 
the 'Fall' and the 'total depravity' of mankind, 
and, like them, they attributed that Sin, and Fall, 
and Total Depravity to the Demons, and espe- 
cially to 'Lucifer,' their chief. Like them, also, 
they believed that the righteous were especially 
protected by angels, or special representatives of 
Jehovah. Their doctrines on all these subjects 
were based upon a more or less strained interpre- 
tation of the Jewish Scriptures. The Pharisees 
styled themselves 'Interpreters' ; a name signify- 
ing their claim to the exclusive knowledge of the 
true meaning of the Scriptures by virtue of that 
tradition by which Moses was alleged to have 
received them on Mount Sinai, and which succes- 
sive generations of the Order of Aaron had trans- 
mitted, as they claimed, unaltered unto them. 
Their very costume, their doctrine of the trans- 
migration of Souls, their system of Astronomy,, 
their belief in the influence of the Stars, their sys- 
tem of Demons, of Angels and Archangels, all 
these were of foreign origin. Another Sect, 
essentially Jewish, called Sadducees, opposed 
those foreign doctrines of the Pharisees. 



194 OUR HERITAGE 

''During the peaceful occurrences, following 
the conquests of Alexander in three quarters of 
the globe, many Grecian colonies were established 
in Asia and Africa. The Philosophy of Egypt 
and Greece, of Persia and Palestine, of Arabia, 
Assyria, and Chaldea met and everywhere inter- 
mingled. The eclectic philosophy, thus formed, 
comprised two principal seats of learning, 
namely, the Therapeuts, and the Essenes. The 
Jewish-Greek School of Alexandria, or Thera- 
peuts, is now known only by two of its more illus- 
trious students, namely Aristobulus and Philo. 
Belonging to Asia by its origin, to Egypt by its 
residence, and to Greece by its language and hab- 
its of thought, that School endeavored to> show 
that all Truth, so far as it was embraced in the 
religious philosophies of other Nations, was 
transplanted there from Palestine. Aristobulus 
declared that the facts detailed in the Sacred 
Books of the Jews were so many allegories, con- 
cealing the most profound meanings, and that 
Plato had borrowed from them all of his finest 
ideas. Philo, who lived a century later, followed 
•the same theory, and endeavored to show that 
the Hebrew Scriptures, by their system of allego- 
ries, were the true source of all religious and 
philosophical doctrine. According to him, the 
literal meaning is for the vulgar alone. Whoever 
lias meditated on philosophy, purified himself by 
virtue, and raised himself by contemplation to 
God and the intellectual world, and received their 
inspiration, pierces the gross envelope of the let- 
ter, discovers a wholly different order of things, 



THE ESSENES 195 

and is Initiated into Mysteries of which the ele- 
mentary or literal interpretation offers but an 
imperfect image. A historical fact, a figure, a 
word, a letter, a rite, a custom, the parable or 
vision of a prophet, all veil the most profound 
meanings. Following these suggestions of Philo, 
the Greek-Jew, the Fathers of the Christian 
Church were led into a labyrinth from which 
Latin Theology has never yet been extricated. 

"In the early days of the Christian Church 
there was an Initiation. Persons were admitted 
on special conditions only. In order to arrive at 
a complete knowledge of the doctrine, they were 
required to pass three degrees of instruction. Con- 
sequently, the Initiates were divided into three 
classes ; the first, Auditors ; the second, Catechu- 
mens ; and the third, The Faithful. The Auditors 
were a sort of Novices, who were prepared by 
certain ceremonies and certain instruction to 
receive the Dogmas of Christianity. A portion 
of those Dogmas were communicated to the 
Catechumens, who, after particular purifications, 
received baptism, otherwise known as the Initia- 
tion of the Theogenesis (Divine Generation) ! 
But the grand mysteries of that Theology (The 
Incarnation, Nativity, Passion and Resurrec- 
tion ;) were communicated only to The Faithful. 
Those doctrines, and the celebration of the Holy 
Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist, were 
kept with profound secrecy. Those Mysteries 
were divided into two parts : The first styled 
the Mass of the Catechumens or Low Mass; the 
second, the Mass of the Faithful or High Mass. 



196 OUR HERITAGE 

The celebration of the Priests of Mithras, or Per- 
sian Rites, was also styled a Mass, and the cere- 
monies used there, centuries before the birth of 
Jesus of Nazareth, were those which were later 
adopted by the Christian Church, and are now 
used by the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. 
There were found all the sacraments of the 
Catholic Apostolic Church, even the Breath of 
Confirmation. The Priest of Mithras promised 
the candidate deliverance from Sin, by means of 
confession and baptism, and a future life of mis- 
ery or happiness. There, the oblation of bread, 
image of the resurrection was celebrated. The 
baptism of newly born infants, extreme unc- 
tion, confession of sins, all belonged to the 
Mithric rites. The candidate for Initiation 
into those ancient rites was purified by a 
species of baptism, a mark in the form of the 
Cross was placed upon his forehead, he offered 
bread and water, pronouncing, at the same time, 
certain mysterious words. Thus the statement 
of Solomon, "There is nothing new under the 
Sun" is exemplified. 

"We come now to a consideration of the 
Essenes. The Essenes were regarded by 
Josephus as a very ancient sect. They resided 
originally in two principal towns, both in the 
vicinity of the Dead Sea, in Palestine, namely, 
Engaddi, about thirty miles southeast of Jeru- 
salem, and Hebron, about twenty miles south of 
that city. They lived in total abstinence and 
continence, and whilst they neglected wedlock, 
there was no ban placed upon such relation. They 



THE ESSENES 197 

chose out other person's children, while they 
were pliable and fit for instruction, and educated 
them according to their own manners. They 
had a great affection for each other; 'Love one 
another V formed the keynote of their teaching. 
The whole of their time was devoted to labor, 
study, meditation, and prayer. Scrupulously 
attentive to every call of humanity and to every 
moral duty, they worshipped an Intelligent and 
Supreme Ruler of the Universe, the Father in 
Heaven. They taught that God is Good, that 
he is the Father of Mankind, and has a parental 
interest in the welfare and improvement of Man- 
kind. Life to them was Eternal. The great fes- 
tivals celebrated by them were the Solstices. 
They offered no sacrifices. In their devotions 
which began at the earliest Dawn, they faced the 
Rising Sun, as the Pharisees turned toward the 
Temple at Jerusalem. They reverenced the Sun, 
not as a God, but as the Symbol of Life and Light. 
They observed the Mosaic law with scrupulous 
exactness, whilst disregarding many of the forms 
and technicalities which successive generations 
of the Order of Aaron had engrafted onto that 
law. Their ceremonies were symbolical. They 
had, according to Philo, four degrees. If any 
adult be inclined to join them, says Josephus, he 
was required to follow their mode of living for a 
year, and having given evidence during that time 
that he could observe their continence, he ap- 
proached nearer their mode of living, and was 
given a form of Baptism; but he was not then 
permitted to live with them, for, after that dem- 



198 OUR HERITAGE 

onstration of his fortitude, his temper was tried 
for two more years, and if he then be found 
worthy he was admitted into their society. 
Such candidates were required to take a 
solemn oath that they would be perpetual 
Lovers of Truth and Wisdom; that they would 
keep their hands clean from all wrong doing; 
that they would not conceal anything from 
the members of their own society, nor reveal 
any of their secrets to others. During the dark 
centuries immediately preceding the Chris- 
tian era, the Essenes became the most widely 
scattered, better known, and more influential 
society of antiquity. Their learning was re- 
ferred to as "The Knowledge of the Word." 
They dwelt, says Josephus, in every city ; and if 
any of their sect come from other places, what 
they have lies open to them, just as if it were their 
own, and they go in to such as they never 
met before, just as if they had been ever so long 
acquainted with them ; consequently, they carry 
nothing with them when they travel into' remote 
parts, although they take their weapons for fear 
of thieves. Accordingly, there was in every city 
where they dwelt, one especially appointed to 
take care of strangers, and to provide garments 
and other necessaries for them. 

"They held Plato in high esteem. They 
taught that Truth, in its entirety, was not to be 
found in the teaching of any one society or creed 
and they therefore, deemed it to be the duty of 
every Wise Man to gather Truth from the sev- 
eral quarters where it might be found, and to 



THE ESSENES 199 

employ it, when thus united, in destroying the 
dominion of error, impiety, and vice. Their word 
was held binding as an oath, but swearing — call- 
ing God to witness, — was deemed worse than 
perjury, because, he who cannot be believed with- 
out swearing by God is ( condemned already. 
Simple in their diet and habits of life, they were 
taught to bear suffering with fortitude ; and, as 
for death, if it be for their glory, they deemed it 
better than living always. They deemed it a good 
omen to wear white garments, with a girdle of 
leather around the waist. 

The war with the Romans, says Josephus,. 
served to show what great souls they had in 
their trials, wherein, although they were tortured 
and distorted, and made to pass through all kinds 
of torment, in order that they might be induced 
to plaspheme their God, or to eat that which their 
rules forbade, yet they could not be made to do 
either; but they smiled in their pain, and laughed 
those to scorn who inflicted the torture upon 
them, and yielded up their souls with great cheer- 
fulness as expecting to receive them again. 

"There can be no doubt that John the Baptist 
belonged to that School. 'J orm > the Son of a 
Priest who administered in the Temple at Jeru- 
salem, whose mother was of the House of Aaron, 
was in the desert, until the time when he began 
his public ministry. He drank neither wine nor 
strong drink. Clad in a robe of white hair-cloth, 
with a girdle of leather around the waist, living 
upon such food as the desert afforded, he 
preached in the region around Jordan, the bap- 



200 OUR HERITAGE 

tism of repentance for the remission of sins, that 
is the necessity of repentance proven by reforma- 
tion. He taught the people charity and liberal- 
ity; the publicans, Equality, Justice, and Liber- 
ty; the soldiery, Peace, Contentment, Fair Deal- 
ing and Truth, to do violence to none, to accuse 
none falsely, and to be content with their pay. 
He emphasized the importance of virtue, and 
denounced the Pharisees and Sadducees as a gen- 
eration of vipers, and told them of the folly of 
trusting to their descent from Abraham. Thus 
John, who was often consulted by Herod and to 
whom that monarch paid great deference and 
who was frequently governed by his advice, 
taught some Creed older, yet identical with 
Christianity. That is plain. And it is equally 
certain that the very large majority of his fol- 
lowers were neither Pharisees nor Sadducees. 
They must therefore, have been Essenes. It is, 
also, beyond controversy that Jesus of Nazareth 
applied to John for baptism, as a sacred rite, well 
known and long practiced. Tt was becoming to 
him, he said, to fulfill all righteousness.' John 
denounced Herod for marrying his brother's 
wife ; and, for that, he was imprisoned before Je- 
sus began his ministry, and was finally executed 
to gratify her. 

"Nor is that all ! 

"Translating from the figurative language, in- 
to the true and ordinary sense of the Greek text, 
in the 18th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, 
we read that — 'A certain Jew, named Apollos, 
an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man of ex- 



THE ESSENES 201 

tensive learning came to Ephesus. He had 
learned in the Mysteries the true doctrine in 
regard to God and, being a zealous enthusiast, 
he spoke and taught diligently the truth in regard 
to Deity, having received no other baptism than 
that of John.' He knew nothing regarding 
Jesus of Nazareth, for he had resided at Alexan- 
dria and only just arrived at Ephesus. Doubtless, 
he was either an Essene, or a disciple of Philo, 
and hence a Therapeut. And, in the 19th Chapter 
of the same Book, we read — "While Appollos 
was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the 
upper parts of Asia Minor, came to Ephesus, and 
finding certain disciples, he said to them, 'Have 
ye received the Holy Ghost since ye became 
believers?' And they said, 'We have not so 
much as heard that there is any Holy Ghost!' 
And Paul asked, 'In what, then, were you bap- 
tized?' And they replied, 'In John's baptism!' 
The disciples were first called Christians when 
Barnabas and Paul began to preach at Antioch. 

"The religious philosophy taught by John could 
have been nothing other than the eclectic philos- 
ophy of the Essenes. Nor can there be any 
reasonable doubt that John belonged to that 
School. The place where he preached, the doc- 
trines he taught, his macerations and frugal diet, 
all prove it conclusively. 'There was no other 
sect to which he could have belonged, certainly 
none so numerous as his, except the Essenes.' 

"To that School, also, the child Jesus was 
taken, when he disappeared at the age of twelve 
years, 'while he was pliable and fit for learning!' 



202 OUR HERITAGE 

In that School he spent the years of his youth and 
early manhood. From that School, he went forth, 
as a Master, to preach the Gospel of Peace and 
the religion of Love. For the cause it represents, 
he labored throughout a long life, not merely for 
a few months, and finally suffered and died. At 
every step along the thorny pathway of his public 
ministry, he gave unmistakable evidence that an 
essential part of his purpose was to educate a 
select group of men for the purpose of enabling 
them to carry forward the work after he should 
have finished his earthly labors. No doubt he 
sought to establish a Lodge or Branch of the 
Essenes at Jerusalem, that hotbed of Pharisaism. 
There is a Masonic tradition, probably authentic, 
that both John, the Baptist, and Jesus of Naz- 
areth, were Masters of the Lodge at Jerusalem. 
He selected the intelligences, which he deemed 
best suited to receive from him a personal in- 
struction and, under his direction to become 
demonstraters of the law and teachers among 
their fellowmen. 

"We find the following in one of the Gospels, 
'Unto you it is given to know the Mysteries of 
the Kingdom of Heaven, but unto men that are 
without all these things are done in parables, 
that seeing, they may see and not perceive, and 
hearing, they may hear and not understand.' 
And, again, the disciples came and said unto him, 
'Why speakest thou the truth in parables?' — and 
he answered, 'Because it is given unto you to 
know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but 
unto them it is not given.' Whilst in the Book of 



THE ESSENES 203 

Hebrews, we read that Jesus of Nazareth, before 
commencing his Ministry, 'Was made a high 
priest after the order of Melchizedek.' What 
was the Order of Melchizedek? It is referred to 
in the following Chapter of that Book as an order 
at once more ancient and more excellent than the 
Order of Aaron. No doubt the poetic and figur- 
ative language in which that Book is written 
simply means that, before commencing his pub- 
lic ministry, Jesus of Nazareth became a Priest of 
the Order of Essenes. Like John, the Baptist, 
there was no other School to which he could 
have belonged, except the Essenes. The beautiful 
and figurative language, attributed to Matthew, 
descriptive of the visit of the Wise Men, signi- 
fies to the Initiate simply that his education was 
world wide. Jesus knew the Law and the Proph- 
ets, and was equally familiar with the learn- 
ing of the ancient Egyptian Brotherhood, the 
Philosophy of Plato and Socrates, as well as with 
the speculations of the Priests of Persia and Hin- 
dostan. In other words, Jesus was an Essene. 
"At intervals through History, have appeared 
those whose Souls were open to the Infinte, to 
whom the Divine was real, and the present a 
part of the Eternal. It is toward that plane that 
the Ages journey. Then, all Souls will be illum- 
inated by the Infinite. Then, Man will no more 
doubt or question the great, unseen, perhaps 
physically unseeable, realities of the Infinite, than 
we now question the existence of a law of grav- 
ity, or that great, unseen force which is called 
electricity. 



204 OUR HERITAGE 

"Physically, Man is weak. His years are few. 
For ages, the human race stood as helpless as 
a child in the presence of Nature's forces; but, 
gradually, reason awoke ; slowly, the mind devel- 
oped ; by feeble, faltering, timid, timorous steps, 
Man journeyed out of Darkness, out of Fear, 
out of Superstition, out of Bondage, he learned to 
conquer the Ocean, and harness the Lighning, 
and subdue the Air, and direct the Wind, and 
rule the World, until Man stands absolute Mas- 
ter of all the vast physical forces above, and 
around, and beneath him. 

"Above this, is the higher plane of the Spirit. 
To the materialist, Life is but a narrow vale 
between the cold and barren peaks of two eter- 
nities. In vain, he seeks to reach beyond the 
heights; he cries aloud, the only answer is an 
echo of his wailing cry ; from the voiceless lips 
of the unreplying dead, there comes no word. 
Death is the end. That is the door to which 
Omar Kayham found no key; that, the veil 
through which he could not see ! But Man is 
more than vitalized dust. He is a rational, think- 
ing, volitional being; and,as such, is raised far 
above mere material existence. The Mind is 
just as much a part of Truth, as the Body is 
a part of Matter; the Mind lives on Truth, just 
as certainly as the Body lives upon material sub- 
stances. Tntellectural and moral growth is not 
less important than material welfare. Truth is 
nourishment as well as wheat. Reason, by fast- 
ing, becomes puny. Let us lament, as over stom- 
achs, over minds which do not eat. If there be 



THE ESSENES 205 

anything more poignant than a body agonizing 
for want of bread, it is a Soul which is dying of 
hunger for Light.' And whilst it has sometimes 
been said that 'Man has a Soul/ the essential 
fact is that the Individual is a Spirit or Soul, and, 
as such, has a Body. There is, then, a dual 
nature in every human being. The high and the 
low, the great and the small, the generous and 
the mean, the spiritual and the sensual, the Divine 
and Human, the Eternal and the Temporal, the 
Coronal and the Basilar, all meet together in 
Man; and, it is on the frontier or borderland, 
between the higher and the lower planes of being, 
that Man is waging a struggle for existence, 
There, the conflict between the Coronal and the 
Basilar ! There, the battle-ground of each Life ! 
There, too, the surging forces and the wavering 
line of civilization in the long battle of the ages ! 
How short the seeming distnce between the civil- 
ized and uncivilized races ! How long, and how 
tedious has been the journey to pass over it! 
How near each Life to a possible animalism? 
Just the little distance of dropping from the 
higher to the lower in himself! How much of 
the animal, of cruelity and greed, of deceit and 
selfishness, is there in our civilization? And 
were the efforts of organized society to relax, 
were the restraints and conserving influences of 
the home removed, were Education, and Fratern- 
ity, and Religion to cease, how quickly would the 
priceless progress of the long centuries be lost! 
"We are only beginning to realize what the 
Genus Homo is, and that which we are destined 



206 OUR HERITAGE 

to become ! That, beyond us rise the vast spirit- 
ual heights and possibilities of the race! The 
real Man or Woman, the essential Man and 
Woman, may perceive and know God. Humanity 
is related to Justice and Right, to Love and 
Truth, to the Divine. The Individual is not only 
related to these higher qualities, they are him- 
self, they constitute all that is real in the In- 
dividual Life; and, to the fully awakened Soul, 
the consciousness of the Divine is just as real 
as the sentiment of Love which binds the heart 
of a child to its earthly parents. 

"The difference, between those who live upon 
the higher and the lower planes, does not consist 
in the addition of any new quality, but the Spirit- 
ual have developed their latent powers and possi- 
bilities ; and although the Individual cannot, by 
taking thought, add a cubit unto his stature, by 
an act of the will, by a proper development, a 
proper exercise, a proper use of the powers within 
him, the Individual may make of himself a moral 
giant — Educated, Intelligent, Intellectual, Re- 
fined, Spiritual, Immortal, or, by a neglect and 
disuse of those powers, he may dwarf himself to 
a Pigmy — Bestial, Brutal, Ignorant, Sensual, 
Vulgar, Mortal! 

"This is no discovery of mine. It is the lan- 
guage of the Great Masters, of the Psychological 
Force called Fraternity ; which teaches how the 
Individual may grope his way out of Darkness, 
out of Doubt, out of Despair, to a Knowledge of 
Himself, his Duty, and his Destiny. Approx- 
imately three thousand years ago, Confucius, 



THE ESSENES 207 

borrowing the language of the Great Mysteries, 
announced that his doctrine consisted solely in 
being upright in heart, and in Loving thy neigh- 
bor as thyself. Five hundred years later, the 
Hebrew Law declared, 'Thou shalt Love the 
Lord thy God with all thy Mind, and with all 
thy Soul, and with all thy Heart, and with all thy 
Strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.' In the 
following century, Zoroaster expressed this 
thought to the Persians in these words, 'Hold 
it not meet to do unto others what thou wouldst 
not wish done to thyself.' About the same time 
Socrates, the Grecian Philospher, said 'Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself.' Whilst his con- 
temporary German sages taught devotion to 
friends, indulgence for wrong, humanity, hos- 
pitality, respect for age, temperance, and a chiv- 
alrous deference to woman. 

"Saul of Tarsus, a free-born, Roman citizen, 
educated in the schools of Athens, familiar with 
the learning of the ancient Egyptian Brother- 
hood as the same was understood and taught by 
Herodotus, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and 
other great minds ; then, he sat at the feet of Ga- 
maliel and relearned those ancient doctrines from 
the viewpoint of that Jerusalem seer. No wonder 
that, for a time, he was troubled with doubt and 
despair. Much learning had well-nigh made him 
mad ! But, as he journeyed from the Holy City 
to Damascus, suddenly, his vast learning crystal- 
ized, his vision became clear, he saw Himself, 
his Duty, and his destiny. It is profitable to turn 
to the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians, and 



208 OUR HERITAGE 

read the plain simple language of that great Man, 
descriptive of one of the principles of the ancient 
Egyptian Brotherhood ; a principle which in later 
centuries had been recognized as one of the 
Pillars of the Temple at Jerusalem, as it is now 
a fundamental principle of Fraternity, every- 
where. But, because of his narrow, crabbed 
nature Saint Paul did more to degrade Woman 
and retard the civilization of the world than any 
other contemporary of the great teacher ! 

"Socrates was the reverse of skeptic. No man 
ever looked upon Life with more positive or 
practical eye. No man ever pursued his mark 
with a clearer perception of the road which he 
was travelling. No man ever combined, in like 
manner, the absorbing enthusiasm of a mission- 
ary, with the acuteness, the originality, the in- 
ventive resources, and the generalizing compre- 
hension of a philosopher. And yet, that man 
was condemned to death ; condemned, by a hostile 
tribunal composed of more than five hundred 
citizens of Athens, drawn at hazard from all 
classes of society. A majority of six turned the 
scale in the most momentous trial, with one 
exception, that the world has ever witnessed. 
And the vague charges, upon which Socrates was 
condemned were that he was a vain babbler, a 
corrupter of youth, and a setter-forth of strange 
Gods! 

"It is profitable to contemplate the closing 
scene of his Life; a scene which Plato has in- 
vested with such Immortal Glory! The affect- 
ing farewell to the Judges ; the long thirty days 



THE ESSENES 209- 

which passed in prison, before the execution of 
the verdict; his playful equanimity amid the un- 
controllable emotions of his companions ; the 
gathering of his friends on that solemn evening, 
when the fading of the sunset hues upon the 
tops of the Athenian hills was the signal that the 
last hour had come ; the introduction of the fatal 
hemlock ; the immovable countenance of Socrates, 
the firm hand; and then, the burst of frantic 
lamentation from all his friends as, with his 
habitual ease and cheerfulness, he drained the 
cup to its dregs ! Then, the solemn silence 
enjoined by himself; the pacing to and fro; the 
strong religious persuasions attested by his last 
words ; the cold palsy of the poison, creeping 
from the extremities to the heart, — the gradual 
torpor ending in death ! 

"O, for a modern spirit like this ! O, for one 
hour with Socrates ! O, for one hour of that 
voice, whose questioning would make men see 
what they know and what they do not know ; 
what they mean, and what they only think they 
mean ; that which they believe in truth, and 
that which they only believe in name; wherein 
they agree, and wherein they differ. That Voice 
is, indeed, silent; but, there is a voice in each 
man's heart and conscience which, if he will, 
Socrates has taught him to use rightly. That 
Voice still enjoins him to give to himself a reason 
for the hope that is in him, both hearing and 
asking questions. It tells him that the fancied 
repose which self-inquiry disturbs, is more than 
compensated by the real repose which it gives; 



210 OUR HERITAGE 

that, wise questioning is the half of knowledge ; 
that, Life without self-examination is no Life at 
all! 

"Jesus of Nazareth was a student of the great 
Mysteries. He emphasized the Inner, the Real, 
the Enduring. By precept and example, he 
sought to establish a religion of character based 
upon the universal law of Love. He sought to 
break through the veil with which successive 
generations of the Order of Aaron had obscured 
the Truth, and lead mankind into the Holy of 
Holies, the sanctuary of the Spirit. The Father- 
hood of God, the universal Brotherhood of Man, 
formed the keynote of his teaching ; and, in order 
that the question, 'Who is my neighbor?' might 
be finally and forever answered, he gave that 
dramatic account of the Jew, who journeyed 
down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among 
thieves, who beat him, robbed him, stripped him 
of his raiment, left him to die. How a priest 
of the Temple, mumbling his prayers, passed 
by on the other side! How a Levite came and 
looked upon him and passed on his way, swing- 
ing his censer! How a man whom the Jew had 
been taught to loath and despisefrom his youth 
up, looked with compassion on him, bound up his 
wounds, took him to an Inn, paid for his refresh- 
ment, and left him with a blessing! Thence, 
hitherto, and for all time, every one who is in 
trouble, everyone who needs aid or comfort is a 
neighbor and a brother. The true Adept con- 
siders neither the country nor the creed of the 
unfortunate ! 



THE E S S E N E S 211 

"No intelligent Man would ever deny that 
Jesus of Nazareth taught a lofty morality, 
'Love one another, do good to those who per- 
secute you, forgive the repentant sinner, place 
no obstacle in his way, cast no stone at him, 
especially if you too have sinned, Do> unto others 
as ye would that they should do unto you !' 
Such, and not abstruse questions of Theology 
were his simple and sublime teaching; such, 
also the lessons of Fraternity, everywhere. And 
however widely Men may differ as to Creeds and 
Churches, as to Dogma and Doctrine, we all 
believe that there is an Intelligent Grand Arch- 
itect, who is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe ; 
and that the Life of the Individual is Immortal. 

"Clement and Origen, of the second and third 
centuries, represented the genius and culture 
of the Greek mind and philosophy ; a philosophy, 
which had produced a Seneca and a Socrates, an 
Epictetus, Euripidas, and a Marcus Aurelius, 
and the Thought of the early Christian church 
at Alexandria bears the impress of those Masters. 
They taught that God is immanent in Nature; 
that Man is a Spirit, a child of God, made in his 
image ; that, God is Good ; that, he has a parental 
interest in the welfare and improvement of 
Humanity. They taught that Life is a training, 
a school, wherein we may learn and grow into 
the knowledge and likeness of the Infinite ; and 
that we are destined to an eternity of progress 
toward the Infinite. They had large views re- 
garding 'inspiration' and taught, as did the 
Author of the Book of Job, that 'There is a spirit 



212 OUR HERITAGE 

in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty 
giveth him understanding.' They taught, also, 
that God reveals himself to all men, everywhere, 
whose Souls are open to the Infinite; that, God 
was in the world thousands of years before 
the birth of Jesus of Nazareth ; and that Jesus 
was but a larger and fuller manifestation of 
the Divine. History shows how those views of 
Clement and Origen were early shut off from any 
large share or influence in the Western World. 
It shows how the Roman Catholic Church, with 
its cold, forensic Theology, its Latin Testament, 
reinforced by the Civil Law, became the domin- 
ant power which ruled the world with a rod of 
iron for more than a thousand years. How, the 
Protestant Reformation was aimed at some of 
the abuses of the Roman Priesthood, rather than 
at the Theology upon which the assumed power 
of that organization rests. It shows that, the 
Protestant Churches, adhering to Latin The- 
ology, adopted its Dogmas of a distant, angry, 
outside-of-nature God, that had to be 'reconciled' 
to Humanity through the sorrow incident to the 
suffering and death of 'His Only Son,' the total 
depravity of Mankind, a time probation, a sub- 
stitutional atonement, endless punishment, and 
the rest of it; and that, during recent years, the 
Thought of the Western World, no longer satis- 
fied with the cold, puzzling, unintelligible Latin 
Dogmas, which confound the Reason and offend 
the deepest sense of Justice of the Human Soul, 
is finding its way back to the better teaching of 
the early Christian Church at Alexandria, and 



THE ESSENES 213 

thence to the simple and sublime teaching of 
the Great High Priest of the Ancient Order of 
Essenes ! 

"All Men do not see Alike ! 

"Even the Visible Creation is not for all who 
look upon it, of one form or one color. What 
is a Library to one who cannot read? What 
is an Art Gallery to one who has no apprecia- 
tion of the beautiful? What is Music to one 
who cares nothing for Harmony? What are 
Charity, and Friendship, and Justice, and Love 
and Truth to the heart that is cold and cruel and 
selfish? How do we know Beauty and Harmony, 
or Friendship and Justice, or Love and Truth? 
How and why do we infer the Infinite? The 
answer is that the Individual can see, understand, 
and appreciate these larger facts and finer quali- 
ties, because they are part of his own, real self ; 
because, in the essence of his being, the Individ- 
ual is himself Divine ! There is no other hypo- 
thesis upon which the Life of Mankind can be 
philosophically explained. The Individual can 
know Beauty, only as he has the elements of 
Beauty in his own Character. He can know 
Friendship, and Love, and Truth only as he has 
these Divine principles in himself, and as a part 
of Himself ! 



BOOK IV 
THE ANGLO-SAXONS 



RECOGNITION 217 

CHAPTER I. 
RECOGNITION. 

The wind was blowing a gale, "a regular Ne- 
vada zephyr," as Marie decided she needed action 
and change of scene. Quickly pulling on a pair 
of heavy walking boots, donning crimson 
sweater, crimson cap, and a heavy dark gray 
golf-skirt, she locked the door of her studio and 
started on a brisk walk through the piney woods, 
which fringe the shore of Carnelian Bay. The 
weather, always changeable and uncertain in the 
High Sierras, had turned sharply cold. Marie's 
eyes brightened, her pulse quickened, as she 
drew the keen mountain air deeply into her 
lungs. She was glad to be alive ! 

Perhaps one of the strangest things in the 
whole course of human existence is the sudden- 
ness with which certain events transpire. We 
may have expected or even longed for their oc- 
currence, yet suddenly, in an hour or even a min- 
ute, change the whole current of our thought and 
influence, for good or ill, our entire future. Like 
the quick flash of the lightning, the loud crash 
and rumble of the storm, the unexpected shock 
of an earthquake, so clamorous incidents thun- 
der upon the regular routine of even a common- 
place life, crumbling its hopes, shattering its 
pleasures into dust and scattering them to the 
four winds: and this kind of destructive trouble 



218 OUR HERITAGE 

generally comes in the midst of apparent pros- 
perity, without the least warning, and with all 
the abrupt fierceness of a mountain storm. We 
see it in the sudden, almost instantaneous and ir- 
reparable downfall of certain members of society, 
who have been wont to hold their heads proudly 
above their acquaintances and compeers, and 
may have even presumed to pose as examples of 
Light and Virtue to the whole community in 
which they live; we see it, in the capricious for- 
tunes of public men, who are in high favor one 
day and in disgrace the next; we see it in the 
physical change called Death which, however 
long it may have been expected, always comes 
suddenly and reveals in us emotions we never 
dreamed. Vast changes are wrought with such 
suddenness and inexplicable quickness that it is 
hardly surprising that there should be certain 
sects which, when everything is prospering more 
than usually well, make haste to put on gar- 
ments of sackcloth and, casting ashes upon their 
heads, pray aloud, "Prepare us, O Lord, for the 
evil days that are at hand !" The moderation of 
the Stoics who, deeming it impious to either 
grieve over sorrow, or to rejoice over prosperity, 
maintained an equable middle course, between 
the opposing elements of Joy and Sorrow, with- 
out allowing very much demonstration over 
happiness or melancholy, was really a wise tem- 
peramental habit to cultivate. 

We build slowly! 

We destroy swiftly! 



RECOGNITION 219 

Our ancient forebears who built the Temples 
at Jerusalem, with many myriad blows felled, 
hewed, and squared the timbers, quarried the 
stone, and carved the intricate ornaments which 
were to be the Temples. Stone on stone, the 
walls arose; slowly, the roof was framed and 
fashioned, and years elapsed before the Houses 
were finished, fit and ready for the worship of 
God. So, they were built! A single motion of 
the hand of a rude and barbarous spearman, 
moved by a senseless impulse of a brutal will, 
flung in the blazing brand; and, with no other 
human agency, a few short hours sufficed to re- 
duce each building to a smoking mass of black, 
unsightly ruins. Be patient, therefore, and 
wait! "The issues are with God; to do of right 
belongs to us !" Greatness is of slow growth. 
Mental, Moral, Intellectual, and Spiritual at- 
tainments develop slowly ; and whilst they are 
difficult of attainment, they must be used in or- 
der that they may be retained. If you have great 
intellectual ability, if you have peculiar talents 
in any line, you cannot even retain them unless 
you use them for Humanity. 

Joy, like Sorrow, comes suddenly ! 

Marie was thinking of Vin. Her course led 
her along the base of a rugged ledge of granite, 
and as she presently rounded a giant boulder, 
she almost stumbled over the body of a man, 
who was seated in a sheltered nook, his hands 
clasping his knees, his back against a rock, star- 
ing at the translucent water of the lake, which 



220 OUR HERITAGE 

was plainly visible through an opening in the 
trees, caused by some old landslide. He looked 
up sharply, and Marie recognized Vincent 
Kingsley. 

"Oh!" murmured Marie, not a little startled 
at thus meeting the object of her thought— "It's 
you !" 

"Yes, I," replied Vin, as he arose. 

"I am sorry — " stammered Marie. 

"Then I'll go away." 

"I mean, — sorry to disturb your reverie!" 

"I am glad you did. I needed to be aroused. 
You see, Marie, I came out here to make a few 
mental notes for a book I am writing, — and I sat 
down in the sun and thought about something 
else." 

"Something nice?" 

"Lovely! I was thinking of you!" 

Marie's color brightened ! 

"What were you thinking?" 

"Many things ! One was that perhaps I 
should not have been so abrupt the other even- 
ing." 

As he spoke, Vin looked at her thoughtfully. 
Marie wondered how his eyes, which were so 
quiet and tranquil, could make her feel so queer. 

"I have wondered, — I have thought about you 
a good deal ! I have wondered where we have 
met !" she said, in her rich, musical voice. 

"True! We have known each other before, 
only you do not quite remember where." 

Marie looked startled. Vin smiled and 



RECOGNITION 221 

added — ''The Soul never dies ! Nothing dies ; 
not even memory! Shall we walk?" 

"No! Let us sit here for a moment. I must 
think." 

The huge mountain, covered with a heavy 
growth of pine, the trees from one to five feet 
in diameter, a hundred feet high, with here and 
there a jagged pinnacle of rock, its peak crowned 
with snow, towered behind them.- They were 
surrounded by forest, through an opening in 
which the Lake, lashed to fury by the wind, was 
plainly visible. No other living thing was in 
sight. The sighing of the wind, mingled with 
the hollow sound of a falling stream, made per- 
petual music ; the air in their sheltered nook 
seemed breathless as though in suspense, waiting 
for the echo of some word to betray the long 
forgotten secret of her life. Such a tense si- 
lence held them that it seemed almost unbear- 
able. Marie tried to control the rising tide of 
emotion, memory, and thought which surged 
in her Soul like a tempest, swiftly she tried to 
argue with herself that the extraordinary con- 
fusion of her mind was due to her own imagin- 
ation ; nevertheless, despite her struggles, she 
remained fast, as it were, in a web that bound 
every faculty and sense of perception, a net fine 
as gossamer silk, yet beyond her power to break. 
Finally, she raised her eyes and saw Vin watch- 
ing her with patient, appealing tenderness. 

"Tell me!" she whispered, "We are Strang- 



222 OUR HERITAGE 

ers! We met the other evening at Maybelle 
Clairmont's for the first time, — and yet — " 

Vin caught her hands in his own. 

"Not strangers !" he said, his voice trembling 
a little, — 

"Not strangers, but old and sincere friends !" 

The strong gentleness of his handclasp awoke 
a train of recollections in her mind; she looked 
into his face and suddenly every line became 
startlingly familiar. The deep, dark brown eyes, 
the broad brows and intellectual features, the 
mass of wavy dark brown hair, slightly streaked 
with gray, encircling his brows were all as well 
known to her as is the portrait of a beloved to 
her lover, and her heart almost stood still at the 
wonder and joy of the Recognition. 

"Old friends !" he repeated with quiet empha- 
sis. "Only since we last met we have been 
widely separated. Be patient! Trust your own 
Soul ! In a little while you will remember me, 
as well as I remember you !" 

With a thrill of joy, Marie said: 

"I remember you, now ! I have seen you 
often! But where? Tell me where, if you 
know, — surely you do know!" 

Vin seemed to find speech difficult. He still 
held her hands with a tender clasp in which 
there was a compelling force. If two dear 
friends, parted by some sudden catastrophe like 
the fire which destroyed San Francisco and ren- 
dered thousands destitute and homeless, or like 
the collision off Cape Race which sank the peer- 



RECOGNITION 223 

less Titanic and plunged hundreds of passen- 
gers into an ice-cold, watery grave, were all 
unexpectedly to meet in some solitary place, 
after many years, where neither had expected to 
see a living Soul, their emotion could not be 
keener than was theirs. Vin's eyes were gravely v 
thoughtful as he answered, after what seemed 
to Marie an interminable interval, — 

"Yes, I do know ! But I think, perhaps, I bet- 
ter not tell you, now. As I have already said, 
you will remember. We never forget. Still it 
is natural, everything has come about so sud- 
denly, — that you should be alarmed, and try to 
resist the force which draws us to one another. 
It is a force which we cannot resist, and no mat- 
ter what influence may intervene, it will take no 
denial. Perhaps we had better walk on — " he 
continued, averting his gaze for a moment, al- 
though he still held her hand. 

"If I say more, I may say too much. Shall we 
climb to the top of that crag, and see the sun 
set?" 

Marie trembled, not with cold or fear, but 
with an exquisite sense of joy as she assented, — 

"It will be a delightful scene!" 

They moved on, hand in hand, in absolute 
silence. Vin guided her up the rough and 
rugged trail which wound around the side of the 
cliff. The wind had gradually blown itself out 
as the sun approached the horizon, and the fall- 
ing stream sounded clearer, sometimes with a 
clamorous insistence as though it sought to 



224 OUR HEEITAGE 

match itself against the tumult of her emotions, 
in a vain endeavor to drown or obscure her 
thoughts. The odor of wild violets was in the 
air. At length they reached a shelf of rock and 
paused. They were in full view of Lake Tahoe, 
which took on a weird splendor in the rays of 
the setting sun. The water which had been 
lashed to foam during the day was now calm, 
though it was not actually still, and sparkled 
and shown as though it were effervescent, — 
while ever and anon it seemed to flash and rip- 
ple with a diamond like lustre, as though it were 
charged with electricity. Behind them and on 
either side, broken and monstrously misshapen 
cliffs, rising tier upon tier to the snow line, with 
here and there a red peak, like a pyramid of fire, 
grooved by the winter torrents and summer ava- 
lanches, for rock, as well as character, may be 
worn down by water. Beneath them, the pine 
trees sighed and beckoned in the evening breeze, 
as though wooing them to return. A soft misty 
vapor rose from the surface of the lake, which 
the fitful gusts of air, which rush over the snow- 
clad mountains, turned to clouds, and tossed 
them to and fro, or piled them up into fantastic 
shapes. They stood silently, hand in hand, 
watching the cloud phantoms, and waiting for 
the deepening glow which, when it should be- 
gin to fade at the surface of the lake, would 
spread slowly upward, and transform the sur- 
rounding mountains into an almost supernat- 
ural splendor and grandeur. 



RECOGNITION 225 

Suddenly, Marie spoke! 

"Your lecture, about the Essenes ! — How do 
you know all that, which you told us?" she 
asked. 

"By the study of past records !" Vin replied. 
"I read and study what modern men and women 
declare they have no time to read !" and he 
added, "Books and papers which the great ma- 
jority of men and women have little, if any, ca- 
pacity to comprehend!" 

"If one could only actually see those ancient 
Peoples, as they once existed, what a revelation 
it would be!" murmured Marie, and she added 
after a moment's hesitation: 

"Our new and wonderful discoveries and in- 
ventions, I suppose they are new and wonderful 
to our age, might appear but trifling and insig- 
nificant after all. The Pyramids and other gi- 
gantic works could hardly have been constructed 
without the aid of electrical power. I think 
sometimes that our age is only rediscovering 
what those ancient Peoples knew. Even the 
winged-gods of Mythology may have had their 
origin in a flying-machine, such as is now being 
perfected." 

"You are quite right in thinking that 'New* 
things are only old and long forgotten things re- 
vived or reinvented," responded Vin in a low 
musical voice. 

"And, if you had gone a step further and said 
that our present lives are only continuations of 
our past, you would hardly have been wrong. 



226 OUR HERITAGE 

We are coming more and more to accept as prob- 
able, what the ancient Egyptian adepts, the 
Essenes and others accepted as an established 
fact, that Life is Eternal, that it is Everlasting, 
and imperishable. That the physical change 
called Death is only change and progress. May 
I continue?" 

Marie gave a mute sign of assent, and Vin 
continued as follows : 

"It transpires sometimes, even in the rush and 
turmoil of this materialistic age, that a Man 
and a Woman are brought together, who, of 
their own immediate knowledge, have had no 
previous acquaintance with each other, and yet, 
a word, a gesture, they do not understand how 
it happens, a whole train of recollections is set 
in motion, and they are convinced that they have 
known each other always. Then nothing can 
separate them ! Soul rushes to Soul ! All forms 
and conventions, all customs and ceremonies, 
social usages and traditions crumble and fall to 
ashes before the power which overwhelms them. 
Such sudden attractions sometimes occur even 
among the most ordinary surroundings, and So- 
ciety stands aghast ! Those like Maybelle Clair- 
mont, who are wedded to the conventions, frown 
and shake their heads, and jeer and sneer and 
whisper at what they cannot understand, calling 
such impetuosity 'folly' or worse, while remain- 
ing blind to the great fact that it is no less than 
the active assertion of an Eternal Law; a law, 
which can neither be broken nor ignored with 



RECOGNITION 227 

impunity. Just as in wireless telegraphy one 
point of vibration irresistibly strikes another 
over intervening space, and in spite of opposing 
currents and forces, so, despite intervening cur- 
rents and lines of divergence, despite time, for 
a thousand years are but as yesterday, the Im- 
mortal Soul strikes its kindred fire across the 
wreck and ruin of the past, until they meet in 
the irresistible and compelling 'flash' of that Di- 
vine message called Love !" 

The mountains encircling the Lake now began 
to be "illuminated with an ever-changing glow of 
soft, golden light, orange and purple hues inter- 
mingled, while a thin blue-white cloud of vapor 
slowly moved above the surface of the water. A 
sky of splendid color met their gaze. A mo- 
tionless, gray mist slowly settled over the for- 
est, like a gigantic stage, set for a Master's art. 
They watched the scene in absorbed fascination. 
Marie was conscious that the firm, strong hand 
holding her own had strengthened its clasp. 
Suddenly, Vin spoke — 

"Now ! Shall I tell you where we once met?" 
"Marie nodded her head in assent, — and, like 
a flash of lightning, lake, mountains, the whole 
landscape vanished, and in all the range 
of her vision nothing remained but the mantle 
of gray misty vapor, like a gigantic stage set for 
the actors. Then, her vision as suddenly 
cleared, her faculties became vigorously alert, 
she heard the sound of joyous, marching music, 
and there on the stage before her with thousands 



228 OUR HERITAGE 

of incandescent lights gleaming from palaces and 
towers, shone an ancient city. Majestic build- 
ings, — vast, stately, gigantic! Streets crowded 
with Men and Women, dressed in white and 
varied colored garments ! Roof gardens, filled 
with all the triumphs of horticultural art, flowers 
and trailing vines.' Trees, broad branched and 
fully leafed ! Broad terraces, overlooking a slug- 
gish, yellow river, with lotus-lillies growing 
thickly near the bank ! Music, — like a thousand 
eolian harps, that echoed in silver and brazen 
twangings from shaded gardens and covered 
balconies. Just opposite where they sat, or 
seemed to sit, a broad avenue, brilliantly lighted, 
extended until it opened into a great square, 
embellished with images of gods and animals, 
Marie saw the sparkling spray of many foun- 
tains. To the left of the Avenue, a beautiful 
garden could be discerned, and from that bower 
of flowers a girl's voice, singing a soft, sweet 
melody, like a nightingale calling its mate, came 
floating towards her on the breeze; and as the 
song was finished, a procession, — Men and 
Women and bands of little children, in holiday 
attire; maidens, garlanded, bearing wreaths of 
all the flowers, escorted one, who was clad in 
some silvery-white tissue, whose face was closely 
veiled, so that not even the outline of her features 
were discerned, walking demurely, bearing in 
her hand a single, pure-white rose, toward the 
garden gate. Meanwhile, the marching music, 
Marie had first heard, sounded nearer and nearer, 
and she presently perceived another procession, 



RECOGNITION 229 

rapidly approaching the garden; a company of 
some secret, priestly order, men and women, 
young men and maidens, and little children, 
escorted a regal figure, whose face was half con- 
cealed by his knightly plume ; and as the proces- 
sion halted near the Garden Gate, Marie watched 
with absorbed interest that Man as he advanced 
alone, and taking the hand of the demure maiden 
led her before the officiating priest, who was 
clad in a long, brilliant robe which blazed with 
gems ; and, as the Priest raised his hands in- 
voking a divine blessing upon the two whom he 
had just made one, Marie recognized her own face 
in the maiden's, and in his, the face of Vin ! 

Startled, thrilled in every fiber of her being, 
Marie withdrew her hand from that of her com- 
panion, and saw — the solemn grandeur of Lake 
Tahoe with a deep golden glow streaming over 
the summit of the western mountains, flung 
upward by the reflected rays of the setting Sun 
on the Pacific. If one would see the Sun come 
up like thunder, he should view it from the top 
of Mount Washington ; while to see him set in 
richest glory and splendor, he must see it from 
the High Sierras. 

Marie heaved an involuntary sigh ; and, at last, 
with some hesitation, she looked full at Vin. 
His eyes met hers steadfastly! How naturally 
their lips met ! 



230 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER II. 
THE GERMANS. 

After leaving the land of Palestine, the People 
of Ephraim did not again become known to 
history, until, approximately three hundred years 
later, they had grown to national proportions 
in the forests of Germany. The name, Ger- 
man, given to the entire race by Caesar and 
Tacitus, meant that they were "Shouters in 
battle !" This appellation is an equivalent of 
Homer's favorite epithet of Menelaus, "Good 
at the war-cry!" The name "Deutsche," sig- 
nifying popular or general, was first applied 
to the language and laws of the entire Na- 
tion as distinguished from local laws or cus- 
toms. The first recorded notice of any of the 
German Tribes was that of the Teutons, on the 
shores of the Baltic, where they were visited by 
Pytheas of Massalia in the time of Alexander, 
the Great. 

The historians, contemporary of Alexander, 
did not believe the statement of Pytheas, but 
"Time has shown that many of his accounts were 
too accurate not to have been founded on 
personal observation." It was, therefore, in the 
fourth century before our era, or approximately 
three hundred years after the first emigrants 
had left Palestine, that we find the People of 
Ephraim in the Forests of Germany; within a 



THE GERMANS 231 

few generations afterward, they had not only 
peopled the whole of Germany, but they had 
entirely forgotten their ancient migrations. It 
took them just about the length of time to people 
Germany, that it has taken their descendants to 
subdue the fairest portion of the Western Hem- 
isphere. 

When the Germans first came in contact with 
Rome, it was fortunate, indeed, that they should 
fall under the observation of the accurate and 
philosophical historian, — Cornelius Tacitus, who 
described them in the most graphic manner. 
"The expressive conciseness of his descriptions 
has served to exercise the diligence of innumer- 
able antiquarians, and to excite the genius and 
penetration of the philosophical historians of" 
later times." The subject has been so fully 
treated that it is unnecessary to review it iiv 
detail. An accurate and concise statement of 
some of the more important characteristics and 
institutions of the German people, and particu- 
larly of the Angles and the Saxons is all that 
will be attempted. 



232 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER III. 
THEIR RELIGION. 

When they first came in contact with the 
Romans, the Religion of the Germans was in- 
timately associated with the Thought, the Life, 
and the Character of the People. They wor- 
shipped a Triune Deity, Odin, the Almighty 
Father; Frea, his wife, emblem of Universal 
Matter; and Thor, their Son, the Mediator; but, 
above these, was their Supreme God, "The 
Author of everything that existeth, the eternal, 
the ancient, the living and awful being, the 
searcher into concealed things, the being that 
never changeth." 

The following are some of the maxims of the 
supreme book of Odin : "If thou hast a friend 
visit him often, the path will grow over with 
grass and the trees soon cover it, if thou dost 
not constantly walk upon it. He is a faithful 
friend who, having but two loaves, gives his 
friend one. Be never first to break with thy 
friend. Sorrow wrings the heart of him who has 
no one save himself with whom to take counsel. 
There is no virtuous man who has not some vice ; 
no bad man who has not some virtue. Happy 
he, who obtains the praise and good will of men, 
for all that depends upon the will of another is 
hazardous and uncertain; riches fly away in the 
twinkling of an eye. They are the most incon- 
stant of friends. Flocks and herds perish, parents 



THEIR RELIGION 233 

die, friends are not immortal ; thou, thyself, diest. 
I know of but one thing that doth not die — the 
judgment that is passed upon the dead! Be 
humane towards those whom thou meetest on the 
road. If the guest who comes to thy house is 
cold, give him fire; the man who has journeyed 
over the mountains needs fire and dry garments. 
Mock not the aged, for words full of sense often 
come from the wrinkles of age. Be moderately 
wise and not over prudent. Let no one seek to 
know his destiny, if he would sleep tranquilly. 
There is no malady more cruel than to be dis- 
contented with our lot. The glutton eats his 
own death, and the wise man laughs at the fool's 
greediness. Nothing is more injurious to the 
young than excessive drinking; the more one 
drinks, the more he loses his reason. The bird 
of forgetfulness sings before those who intoxicate 
themselves and wiles away their Souls. Man, 
devoid of sense believes that he will live always 
if he avoids war; but, if the lances spare him, 
old age will give him no quarter. Better live well 
than live long." Whilst, the following maxims 
of the Druidical Judges are taken from the com- 
pilation of Dyrnwal Moelmud, who flourished 
about the time of Alexander, the Great : "The 
three privileges and protection of the Social State 
are, Security of Life and Person ; security of 
possession and dwelling; security of natural 
rights. The three things that confirm the social 
state are : The effectual security of property ; 
just punishment when it is due; and mercy tem- 
pering justice when equity requires it. The three 



234 OUR HERITAGE 

elements of Law are : Knowledge, natural rights, 
and conscientiousness. The three proofs of a 
Judge are: Knowledge of the Law; knowledge 
of the customs which the law does not supersede ; 
and knowledge of the times and the business 
thereto^ belonging. The three things which a 
Judge should always study : Equity, habitually ; 
Mercy, conscientiously; and Knowledge, pro- 
foundly and accurately. The three ornaments 
of the Social State are : The learned Scholar ; 
the Ingenious Artist ; and the Just Judge !" 
Whilst the Indian Books of the period, contained 
the following : "Honor thy father and thy mother. 
Never forget the benefits thou hast received. 
Learn while thou art young. Be submissive to 
the laws of thy country. Seek the company of 
virtuous men. Speak not of God but with res- 
pect. Live on good terms with thy fellow men. 
Speak ill of no one. Mock at the bodily infirm- 
ities of none. Pursue not unrelentingly a con- 
quered enemy. Strive to acquire a good repu- 
tation. The best bread is that for which one is 
indebted to his own labor. Take counsel of wise 
men. The more one learns, the more he acquires 
the faculty of learning. Knowledge is the most 
permanent wealth. As well be dumb as ignorant. 
The true use of knowledge is to discern good 
from evil. What one learns in youth endures 
like the engraving upon the rock. He is wise 
who knows himself. Let thy books be thy best 
friends. Deceive no one, not even thy enemy. 
Wisdom is a treasure which everywhere com- 
mands its value. Speak mildly, even to the poor. 



THEIR RELIGION 235 

It is sweeter to forgive than to take vengeance. 
Gaming and quarrels lead to misery. There is 
no true merit without the practice of virtue. To 
honor our mother is the most fitting homage we 
can pay the Deity. There is no tranquil sleep 
without a clear conscience. He badly under- 
stands his interest who breaks his word." 

Caesar, in his description of the manners and 
customs of the Gauls and other German tribes, 
which comprises a part of his sixth Book on the 
Gallic wars, states that they believed in God 
and in the Immortality of the Soul ; that, they 
had at least one written language in which the 
Greek characters were employed ; that, their 
favorite studies were Astronomy, Geography, and 
the physical sciences. Certain it is that a Nation 
having such knowledge would be likely to know 
of The East! They would be likely to prose- 
cute voyages of discovery in quest of new lands, 
as it is known that Leif Ericson discovered 
America, centuries before Columbus sailed on, 
and on ! 

The Priests of the Germans were Druids, 
according to Caesar ; and there was, according 
to Diodorus Siculus, some connection between 
their philosophy and that of Pathagoras, which 
has long been recognized as exerting a powerful 
influence on Free Masonry. They corresponded, 
according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, with 
the Wise Men of the East! In fact, Pliny said, 
the Druids were the Magi of the Germans, and 
the close similarity of their learning with that 
of the Wise Men of Egypt, and the East, has 



236 OUR HERITAGE 

been pointed out by many learned writers — an- 
cient, as well as modern ! 

These facts embittered the hostility of the 
Roman Catholic Church against them, and stim- 
ulated the zeal of the ecclesiastics to destroy 
every vestige of what they were pleased to call 
"Heathenism." The Church, said Lewis in his 
History of the German People, "felt that it was 
not safe, while so much as a story or a song em- 
bodying the National Idolatry was preserved. 
It is but a meagre account, therefore, 'of their 
Religion, as it was when they first came in con- 
tact with Rome, that we can gather from contem- 
porary writers." 

Fortunately, the People of Ephraim may still 
be identified. Changing their habitat, they did 
not change their laws or customs. The Laws and 
Institutions, the Religion and Customs of the 
Germans were the same which had been codi- 
fied by Moses and which the People of Ephraim 
had struggled so hardly and for so many gener- 
ations to maintain. What other ancient nation 
had ever observed those Laws? What other 
Nation had ever observed the Jury Trial? In 
what other Nation was the verdict of a Jury 
final in criminal cases? Where, in all the His- 
tory of Humanity, were the rights of an accused 
so jealously guarded? Their customs, their 
public institutions, their rules for the Admin- 
istration of Justice; their Social Institutions; 
their delicacy in the treatment of Woman; their 
Family Relations, all find, at the time they be- 
came known to Caesar and Tacitus, a parallel in 



THEIR RELIGION 237 

the Mosaic Law, and nowhere else ! In the 
Family, the Individual still found his protection ! 
By the Family, the Individual was vindicated, 
if injured, and avenged if slain ! And whilst the 
"Avenger of Blood" or next of kin, still performed 
his office, it was with this difference : In the 
absence of malice or premeditation, the slayer 
might make peace with the aggrieved family by 
paying fair damages (weregeld) in the presence 
of the Village Community. They held sacred 
their home. The family tie was strong and 
enduring. Marriage was encouraged, but not 
at too early an age. The ceremony was simple ; 
the tie was formed by the man offering, the 
maiden accepting, a steed, a yoke of cattle, or 
arms. The matron lived in high honor, not 
merely as the Mistress of a household : but 
rather, as the Companion, the Counsellor, the 
Friend of her husband. Xo youth might marry 
until, after reaching majority, he had been de- 
clared, by the General Assembly of the District 
in which he lived, fit for Military Service. The 
Halt, the Maimed, the Physically unfit, were 
not permitted to marry. And the preservation of 
continence to a late period in life was considered 
highly honorable ; for, says Caesar, "It is held 
among the Germans that by such reservation of 
the physical powers, the stature is increased, 
the strength augmented, and the whole body 
nerved with additional strength." The Women 
frequently accompanied the Army as it marched 
to battle, and their cheers and shouts fired the 
hearts of their husbands and lovers. 



238 OUR HERITAGE 

In the administration of Justice, there had 
been but little change. "Eye for Eye," and 
"Limb for Limb," ran their rough customary 
Code as of yore ! The same as in the days of the 
Hebrew Commonwealth. The Judges sat in the 
place of Public Assembly, in the open air, sur- 
rounded by assessors of jurymen; a jury, which 
was composed of men of the same neighborhood 
as the accused, frequently they were members of 
the same family as the accused, but always they 
had some knowledge of the facts ; that was the 
prime requisite of an assessor or juror. "It 
was by their solemn oath of his innocence or 
guilt that he must stand or fall !" Their verdict 
was final. All that was necessary to> acquit one 
charged with crime was for the Assessors or 
Jurors, after hearing the evidence, to say that 
they believed the statement of the accused; or, 
if the accused declined to testify, that they were 
in doubt as to his guilt. That same was the rule 
under the Hebrew Commonwealth. 

The land owners of a particular community 
formed a Canton, which, as an association, held 
all the land surrounding a village settlement, 
whether woodland, meadow, or moor, not appro- 
priated to private ownership, for the benefit of 
the whole community, under the name of Com- 
mons ; a name which still survives, as we think 
of Boston Commons ! The Canton was the 
most influential form in which government ex- 
pressed itself among the German People. Its 
members met in council, like the town-meetings 
of New England and other States. They fought 



THEIR RELIGION 239 

side by side in the Army ; their cattle formed one 
herd; their cultivated land, one unbroken field. 
The landless man had no voice in the council. 
He had all the rights and privileges pertaining 
to the free man, except the right of suffrage; 
and this might well be the rule in every Nation. 
A feature which seemed to Tacitus to utterly 
separate them from the world to which he be- 
longed, but which was the result of their pain- 
ful experience in Palestine, was their hatred of 
cities, and their love, even within their little set- 
tlements, of a jealous independence. "They live 
apart, each by himself, as woodland, plain, or 
fresh spring attracts them !" A number of Can- 
tons formed a District, which, usually had nat- 
ural boundaries, as a mountain range, a river, or 
other permanent object. A number of Districts 
(probably not an exact number) formed a hun- 
dred, having a Count as its governing head. The 
Elders (Edelings) of a District met in General 
Assembly, at a fixed time and place, where they 
chose by majority vote, from among the Elders, 
those who should hold, usually for life, the office 
of Judge. There, also, was chosen the leader, 
called a Duke, who held the chief command dur- 
ing war and, at its close, returned to his former 
position in society. Just as Washington returned 
to private life after the close of the Revolution- 
ary War, so the Duke surrendered his com- 
mand. The choice of a Duke was proclaimed 
by elevating the newly elected leader or Duke 
on a shield borne upon the shoulders of his 
friends. 



240 OUR HERITAGE 



CHAPTER IV. 

THEIR INFLUENCE ON MODERN 
SOCIETY. 

Their Influence on modern society and civil- 
ization cannot be overestimated. It was neces- 
sary for the permanent peace and welfare of 
society that their estimate of the personal worth 
and independence of the Individual, which con- 
stituted all that was pleasurable in the free life 
of the German people, should be bravely asserted 
and transmitted to modern times. In the States 
of Antiquity, the importance of the Individual 
was derived. In Rome, the honor, the privileges, 
the status of the Patrician Class was conferred 
by the Order to which they belonged. That 
same was true of every other rank. In Sparta, 
every grade of Humanity, from the Degraded 
Helot to the Supreme Oligarch, derived their rel- 
ative importance from the class to which they 
belonged. Moreover, the privileges referred to 
were the subject of bargain and sale, as appears 
from the statement of the Chief Captain, "With 
a great sum obtained I this freedom !" But 
Saul of Tarsus was free born. The Liberty, the 
privileges, the immunities of all those ancient 
peoples, such as they enjoyed, were conferred 
by or derived from some of the institutions of 
government. With the Germans, it was not so. 
Their tenacity of purpose has been noted. Their 
customs were persistent. The children were 



THEIR INFLUENCE 241 

required to learn the law. Their institutions 
were transmitted from Father to Son. The child 
was taught to cherish and preserve the law and 
institutions of his ancestors. Each member of 
the Nation, upon reaching maturity, claimed and 
exercised the rights and privileges of free men 
as of right. Those rights, privileges, and 
immunities which form the sum total of Indi- 
vidual Freedom and Liberty were not derived 
from any institution of the State, not from any 
Society to which the Individual may have 
belonged ; they were inherent in every free man. 
They were born with him, a precious heritage, 
which none dare infringe, and which no power 
of the aggregrate community might alienate 
except as a punishment for crime. 

The Individual then spoke of his FREE 
DOOM! Liberty was his Birthright! What- 
ever agreements he entered into, whatever obli- 
gations he assumed, whatever duties he under- 
took to perform, all must be made of his own free 
will and accord. Any demand which society 
made upon him was resented, if it seemed to 
trench upon his personal rights as a free man. 
No power existed among the ancient Germans 
which could invade the absolute sanctity of 
a Free Man's person or home. Nevertheless, 
no feature of their character has more deeply 
influenced the history of modern times than 
the tie, which, without destroying the inde- 
pendence of the Individual, attached one 
man to another. They were absolutely loyal 



242 OUR HERITAGE 

to a chosen leader. Their allegiance was not 
due to any government, but to individual 
and chosen leaders. Formally and solemnly 
assumed, it was strictly personal in its character. 
It gave a new and vigorous character to the so- 
called Christian Religion. The early German 
'Christian' regarded himself as the liege-man of 
Christ, his personal master and lord; owing him 
fealty, and bound to serve him faithfully even 
unto Death. Thus were their ancient Notions, 
regarding the attributes of their Supreme God 
adapted to the 'Christian' Faith ! Indeed, said 
Ridpath, but for the growing fidelity of man to 
man, it were hard to discover how human society 
could have continued to exist in such an age of 
decadence and gloom as that into which Europe 
was plunged after the overthrow of the Roman 
Empire. The bravest and noblest youths blushed 
not to be numbered among the faithful com- 
panions of some renowned chieftain to whom 
they devoted their service. A noble emulation 
prevailed among the companions to attain the 
first place in the esteem of their chief; amongst 
the chiefs to acquire the greatest number of 
valiant companions. To be ever surrounded by 
a noble band of select youths was the pride and 
glory of the leaders; their ornament in peace, 
their defense in war. The fame of distinguished 
warriors diffused itself beyond the narrow limits 
of their own immediate community. Presents and 
embassies solicited their friendship, and the fame 
of their arms often assured victory to the cause 
which they espoused. In the hour of danger it 



THEIR INFLUENCI 243 

was shameful for the leader to be surpassed in 
valor by his companions ! Infamous for the com- 
panions not to equal the valor of their chief ; 
whilst to survive his fall in battle was indelible 
dishonor. 

Thus the descendants of Ephraim, as they were 
known to Caesar and Tacitus, do not appear like 
"Barbarians." Their strength of character, their 
personal purity, their invincible spirit, their Love 
of Liberty, their faithfulness and reverence for 
law, their Love of Home; 'their devotion to 
friends ; their loyalty to a chosen leader ; their 
peculiarly vigorous and free public institutions, 
all combine to make them the superior of any 
Nation of their own or former times. Their Insti- 
tutions have come down to us, a Precious Heri- 
tage, which it is the duty, as it should be the 
pleasure and privilege, of every citizen to cherish 
and defend. Measured by the requirements of 
modern times, they were unlearned; but they 
had a firm grasp of all those things which go to 
make up character of the highest type, upon 
which the strength of States is built! Serious 
thoughfulness, valor in battle, and vigor of char- 
acter are among the features which appear most 
prominent in the Germans as they came under 
the observation and were delineated by the mas- 
terly pen of Tacitus. 



244 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER V. 

THEIR CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. 

The Angles and the Saxons had found a per- 
manent footing in the Danish Islands, in the 
northwestern lowlands of Germany and along 
the River Elbe. In the Fifth Century of the pres- 
ent era, they were the leaders of that movement 
which wrested Britain from the Celts ; and, as 
there was but little to distinguish them from 
each other in law or language, in customs or 
institutions, or social usages, they soon became 
known as Anglo-Saxons. Of the western prov- 
inces that had obeyed the Caesars, Britain was 
the last to be occupied and the first which was 
abandoned. During the Roman occupation, com- 
merce had been encouraged ; agriculture had 
flourished; the mining industry had been fos- 
tered. The tin mines of Cornwall, operated by 
forced labor, had been scenes of endless oppres- 
sion. Taxation was burdensome. Enterprise was 
fettered by laws which turned every occupation, 
every trade, every industry into an hereditary 
caste. The despotic institutions of the Romans 
crushed all initiative and independent vigor of 
action on the part of the individual. The spirit 
of the Celtic tribes had been broken. They for- 
got how to fight for their country as they forgot 
how to govern it, and when the Roman garrisons 
were withdrawn, the Picts and Scots broke over 
the northern boundary and threatened the Celtic 



THEIR CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 245 

tribes with annihilation. Then it was that the 
Saxons crossed the Channel and landed at Ebbs 
Fleet, the Plymouth Rock of English history. 
It is easy to discover, says Greene, in the misty 
level of the present Minster Marsh what was 
once a broad inlet of the sea, separating Thanet 
from the mainland of Britain, through which 
the Pirate Boats of the first Englishmen came 
sailing, with a fair wind, to the little gravelspit 
of Ebbs Fleet. "Those hardy warriors were, if 
the traditions of the time may be accredited, at 
the first invited by Vortigern, king of the British 
Celts, to come over to the Island and aid him 
in repelling the Picts and Scots ; no sooner, how- 
ever, had the Saxons landed in the Island than 
their cupidity was aroused, and sending for 
reinforcements of their countrymen, they swept 
the Celts before them, and seized the better part 
of Britain for themselves." The whole southern 
portion of the Island passed under the dominion 
of the invaders, and the foundations were pres- 
ently laid of the petty Saxon kingdoms of Kent, 
Sussex, Essex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, 
Bernecia, and Deira, which, by their mergement 
in the eighth century, were destined to form the 
basis of the greatness of the Mistress of the Seas. 
It is not probable that the Celts ever became 
familiar with the language or laws of the 
Romans. The superficial civilization which they 
acquired from the Caesars was utterly effaced by 
the Anglo-Saxon conquest, which was bloody 
and dreadful. It took thirty years to subdue 
Kent, sixty to complete the conquest of South 



246 OUR HERITAGE 

Britain, whilst it required two centuries to com- 
plete the conquest of the entire Island; but the 
conquest was thorough and complete. Celtic 
and Roman institutions passed away and Britain 
was Anglo-Saxon in law, in language, in litera- 
ture, in customs, in governmental institutions, 
and in social usage. The effacement of the Celt 
was only the prelude to the settlement of his 
conquerors, and the establishment of their Vil- 
lage institutions ; it was the gradual transfer 
of the Angles and the Saxons from the Elbe and 
the Rhine to the Thames and the Humber. 
Details of the conquest are meagre, but when 
the darkness broke, said Macaulay, the Island 
that had been lost to view as Britain, reappeared 
as England. On the mainland, the German 
hordes that overthrew the Roman Empire were, 
in turn, conquered and subdued by the customs, 
laws and institutions of that government ; so 
that, on the continent of Europe, Social Life, 
Administrative Order, Customs, Law and Reli- 
gion all remained Roman in character. "On the 
continent, the Latin drove out the Celtic, it was 
not driven out by the German, and it is at this 
date the basis of the French, Spanish and Portu- 
guese languages." In Britain it was not so. There 
the Latin could not maintain its supremacy. 
"The new Britain, known to the world as Eng- 
land, is the one purely German Nation that rose 
upon the wreck of Rome." In England, alone, 
Rome died into a vague tradition of the past. In 
England, alone, the ancient laws and institutions 



THEIR CONQUEST OF ENGLAND 247 

of the people of Ephraim, including Trial by 
Jury, were firmly established. 

The Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Chris- 
tianity preceded a series of salutary revolutions ; 
but the Catholic Apostolic Church had become 
deeply corrupted. "Roman policy and Gothic ig- 
norance, Grecian ingenuity and Syrian asceti- 
cism contributed to deprave her." Still, learning 
followed in the train of the Prelates. Latin 
became one of the languages of England, the lan- 
guage of her worship, her correspondence, and 
her literature. The civilization, art, letters which 
fled before the torch of the Anglo-Saxon con- 
quest returned with the Christian faith. Although 
the fabric of the Roman Law never took root in 
England, it is impossible not to recognize the 
effect of the influence of the Roman missionaries 
in the fact that the Codes of customary English 
law began to be put into writing soon after their 
arrival. In more ways than one, the organiza- 
tion of Anglo-Saxon society was affected by the 
conquest of Britain. Theretofore, excepting the 
experience of their remote ancestors in Palestine, 
the Saxons had known nothing of kings. Con- 
quest evolved the king, who surrounded himself 
with chosen leaders or companions and rewarded 
their loyalty with gifts of land; their distinction 
did not rest upon hereditary rank, but upon per- 
sonal services performed for the King. Event- 
ually, they formed a nobility, which superseded 
the "Elders" of the original constitution of the 
Anglo-Saxons ; and, as conquest evolved the king, 
so it evolved a semi-slave class. No rank saved 



248 OUR HERITAGE 

the military prisoner from servitude. The offen- 
der whose kinsfolk failed to make up his fine, 
became a "crime-serf" to the complainant. "Fam- 
ine drove men to bend their heads in the evil 
days for meat. The debtor, unable to discharge 
his debt, flung on the ground the freeman's sword 
or spear, took up the laborer's mattock, and 
placed his head, as a slave, within a master's 
liands." Thus the ranks of the serving class were 
constantly recruited ; but it was not such a slav- 
ery as had been known to Rome, for stripes and 
bonds were rare. The power of a master over 
his servant was not without restrictions. If by 
an angry blow the servant was injured, the mas- 
ter must make restitution, extending even to free- 
dom. The cabins of this class clustered around 
the castle of the rich landlord. 

It would serve no useful purpose to trace the 
details of those conflicts by which the Anglo- 
Saxon race in England became a united people. 
For the period of two hundred years, the His- 
tory of England is the story of those struggles 
between Mercian, Northumbrian and West Sax- 
on kings to establish supremacy over the gen- 
eral mass of their countrymen and unite them 
in a single England. Happily, about the year 
,828, the whole Anglo-Saxon race, in England, 
was knit together under a common ruler. 



ALFRED, THE GREAT 249 

CHAPTER VI. 

ALFRED, THE GREAT. 

The effort of the West Saxons to establish 
National Sovereignty had barely been accom- 
plished, when the Danish Invasion struck down 
their laws and institutions, their rudiments of 
civilization, their short-lived greatness, and 
trampled them under foot in a common ruin. 
Denmark and Scandanavia poured forth pirate 
hordes such as had swept the seas in the days 
of Hengest. During the centuries that Britain 
had been passing through her period of conquest 
and settlement, the inhabitants of the Scanda- 
navian Peninsula had battled for existence with 
a stern climate, a sterile soil, and stormy seas. 
The first sight of the Danish invaders was as if 
the hand on the dial of history had gone back- 
ward three hundred years ; the same sights of 
horror which had attended the Anglo-Saxon con- 
quest were now repeated. Culture and Civiliza- 
tion, Law and Literature, Art and Religion, 
Administrative and Social Order, just as they 
began to bud were met with the storm of the 
Danish invasion and swept down once more. 
The struggle lasted for six generations. Much 
that the Anglo-Saxons suffered of tyranny and 
oppression, during that period of subjugation, 
resulted from the want of Trial by Jury. If that 
ancient privilege had been conceded to them, the 
reaction would not have taken place which drove 



250 OUR HERITAGE 

back the Danes to their frozen homes in the 
north. But those ruffian sea-kings could not 
understand that and the reaction came. It was 
Alfred's memorable struggle with the Danes 
which gave him military fame. It was his moral 
virtues, his Love of Justice and Liberty, which 
made him great among the kings of the earth. 
Alfred did not aim to be an original legislator. 
In the code which he promulgated, he recognized 
the ancient customary laws of the people of 
Ephraim, as they had been observed and mod- 
ified by the Germans in the forests of Germany. 
He re-established the Jury System. He had 
promised the Saxons that he would do< so, and 
he was true to them as they had been loyal to 
him. But it was not easy of accomplishment; the 
local courts were opposed to it, for it limited 
tfieir power, the kind of power that all officials 
covet, the power to punish without regard to 
law. Day and Night, says Doctor Pauli, he was 
busied correcting local injustice. He keenly 
examined the records of the local courts, and if 
he found any injustice in them, he would call 
the Judges before him. He caused Freberne to 
be impeached and executed for sentencing Has- 
pin to death, when the Jury was in doubt as to 
his guilt. During the subsequent period of 
Saxon domination, no Man on English soil was 
powerful enough to deny a legal trial to the 
meanest peasant. 

Alfred had no wish to establish a new system 
either of law or government. "Those things that 
I met with, either in the days of Ine, my kinsman, 



ALFRED, THE GREAT 251 

or of Offa, king of the Mercians, or of Athelberht 
who, first among the English race received Bap- 
tism, those which seemed to me rightest ; those 
I have gathered and rejected the others." The 
conception of a national law began with the Code 
(Doom Book) which Alfred compiled and pro- 
mulgated. The notion of separate systems of 
tribal customs passed away, and the customary 
law of Wessex, Mercia, and Kent blended in the 
Common Law of England. 

Another great service which Alfred rendered 
to the cause of Liberty was in separating execu- 
tive from judicial functions. Although the 
Elders of the Saxon State were warriors, to 
them had been committed, from time immemor- 
ial, the administration of justice; a duty, which 
they had not always faithfully discharged, some- 
times they had decided causes without regard to 
the verdict of the Jury. So, for the better admin- 
istration of Justice, Alfred appointed judges 
whose sole duty it was to interpret and adminis- 
ter the law ; they were sent through the Shires, 
at fixed intervals, to see that justice was done 
and report the decisions of the local courts. Thus 
came into existence the judges of Assize; an of- 
fice which has continued to this day amid all the 
changes which politics has wrought, amid all 
changes of dynasties, and the revolutions of Eng- 
lish thought and life. 

Nor did Alfred rest with the reform of the 
Courts. He denned the boundaries of Shires, and 
subdivided them into Parishes, which still re- 
main. He gave to each Hundred its court, from 



252 ! OUR HERITA G. E 

which appeals lay to a court representing several 
hundreds, about three to each County. Each 
hundred was subdivided into tithings, composed 
of ten neighboring house-holders, who were held 
responsible for the production of criminals, and 
obliged to pay a fine if any such escaped. What 
is important to remember, says Pearson, is that 
life and property were not secured to the Anglo- 
Saxon by the State, during that period, but by 
the loyal co-operation of his neighbors. The 
Saxon guilds are unmatched in the history of 
their times as evidence of self-restraint, self-re- 
liance, mutual trust and patience, as well as in 
love of administrative order, justice and liberty, 
among a people who had learned to value their 
ancient laws and institutions, in the suffering 
which accompanied the tyranny and oppression 
of the Danes. 

Alfred arose at a great crisis in the affairs of 
his Nation. He restored the ancient laws and in- 
stitutions of his people in all their purity and 
vigor. The prudence by which he was guided 
was no less remarkable than his patient industry. 
He felt it to be his duty as a king, and as a man 
of genuine genius and inspiration and courage, to 
preserve and protect the laws and institutions of 
his ancestors, and pass them on to the myriads 
who were to come after him improved, if possi- 
ble, certainly without any derogation. He never 
disturbed the political foundations of the Nation. 
When all lay in ruins, he labored unweariedly to 
re-establish the former state of things. He ac- 
complished his purpose. The Saxons rejoiced in 



ALFRED, THE GREAT 253 

the re-establishment of their freedom ; a freedom, 
which was more secure than before, because it 
was more highly appreciated. 

"That Tree, which now casts its shadow far and 
wide over the earth, when menaced with destruc- 
tion in its bud, was carefully guarded by Alfred; 
but, at a time when it was ready to burst forth 
into a plant, he was forced to leave it to the in- 
fluence of Time. Many great men have occupied 
themselves with the care of this Tree, and each 
in his own way has advanced its growth. Wil- 
liam the conqueror, with his iron hand, bent the 
tender branches to his will ; Henry the Second 
ruled the Saxons with true Norman pride ; but in 
Magna Charta, the old German nature became 
aroused and worked powerfully even among the 
Barons. It became free under Edward the 
Third, that prince so ambitious of conquest, the 
old language and the old law, the one somewhat 
altered, the other much softened, opened the path 
to a new era. The Nation stood like an oak in 
the full strength of its leafy maturity, and to this 
strength the Reformation is indebted for its ac- 
complishment. Elizabeth, the greatest woman 
who ever sat on a throne, occupied a central posi- 
tion in a golden age of power and literature. 
Then came the Stuarts, who, with their despotic 
ideas, outraged the deeply rooted Saxon individu- 
ality of the English, and by their own fall con- 
tributed to the surer development of that Free- 
dom which was founded so long before. The stern 
Cromwell, and the astute William the Third 
aided in preparing for the now advanced Nation 



254 OUR HERITAGE 

that path in which it has ever since moved. The 
Anglo-Saxon race has already attained maturity 
in the new world and, founded on these pillars, 
it will triumph in all places and in every age. Al- 
fred's name will always be placed amongst those 
of the great spirits of this earth ; and so long as 
men regard their past history with reverence, 
they will not venture to bring forward any other 
in comparison with him who saved the West 
Saxon race from complete destruction, and in 
whose heart the virtues dwelt in such harmoni- 
ous concord." 

Thus did Alfred the Great accomplish his ap- 
pointed task ! The People were content in their 
re-established Freedom. Faction and discord 
were well-nigh eradicated, when an event took 
place which prostrated the entire Nation, in com- 
mon slavery and degradation, at the feet of a new 
Invader. 



TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE 255 
CHAPTER VII. 

THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE! 

"Ye shall know the Truth,— the Truth shall 
make you free !" The Individual must be free ! 
Free, not only from physical but from moral and 
mental restraint ! The Individual cannot develop 
under either compulsion or restraint. He must 
be free. A simple illustration, borrowed from 
The Great Work, will make this point clear. 

Perhaps there is no subject, involving the pro- 
found mystery of Individual development, evolu- 
tion, growth, and life with which mankind at 
large is more familiar than is the process by 
which a chicken is produced in the parturient egg. 
An egg, subjected to the proper degree of tem- 
perature, and other conditions, for the space of 
twenty-one days, reaches the parturitive state. 
External conditions and influences have brought 
the egg to that condition ; and with those external 
influences and conditions, the egg had nothing 
to do ; over them, it had no control. The un- 
hatched chick is securely enclosed by the shell, 
which limits its entire world of activity and be- 
ing; but measured by its intelligent development 
its shell environment is perhaps no more limited 
than is the matrial universe to the Man or 
Woman whose consciousness is limited by the 
physical senses to the material plane. Nature 
has implanted within the very essence of the 
chick an intuitive consciousness of the fact that 



256 OUR HERITAGE 

there is a larger and more beautiful world for it 
beyond the narrow limits of its shell. So there is 
in Man an intuitive consciousness of a larger, 
better, and more beautiful world for him than 
that of which his five physical senses bear wit- 
ness ; and, as some rays of light penetrate the 
shell, enclosing the unhatched chick, so Man per- 
ceives his larger and better sphere as "Through 
a glass, darkly." In its own way, which is the 
way of evolutionary unfoldment and develop- 
ment, the unhatched chick seeks to obtain open 
contact with the larger and better world outside 
its shell. So do some Individuals. 

There are two distinct and fundamentally dif- 
ferent processes by means of which the un- 
hatched chick may be liberated from its shell and 
brought into direct contact with the outside 
world. That same is literally true in the case of 
the Genus Homo. The one process is that which 
Nature provides. It is applied from within. It is 
dependent upon the voluntary, unaided, and inde- 
pendent Act of the Individual. It is the process 
of Evolution, of Unfoldment, of Development, of 
Natural and Healthy Growth. It is constructive. 
The other process is applied from without. This 
is not the plan which Great Nature provided. It 
is destructive of the Individual Life, Man, 
Woman or Chick, as the case may be. "Under 
this constructive or evolutionary process, Nature 
on the one hand, and the Individual on the other, 
both have an Important part to perform." Nature 
has fully performed her part when she has sup- 
plied the chick with all the materials and made 



TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE! 257 

all the conditions necessary to its development, 
evolutionary unfoldment and growth ; then, the 
burden of responsibility is transferred to the un- 
hatched chick, and it must do the rest, if it would 
complete the process along constructive lines. 
This is true whether the incubator be natural or 
artificial. If the unhatched chick would become 
a fledgling it must put forth its individual effort 
to that end< in exact conformity with Nature's 
constructive plan of action. So must Man. "The 
chick must break the shell from within, and it 
must do this by its own unaided effort." So, if 
Man would demonstrate the existence of that 
world of beauty, of spiritual Nature, which lies 
beyond his physical senses, he must by his own 
individual effort, applied from within, break the 
Shell of materialism which limits his life to the 
Physical plane. "The analogies of the destructive 
process are in every way equally complete." The 
shell of the unhatched chick may be broken by 
the application of force from without, as every 
child raised in the country knows ; but this is not 
Nature's process, and it is destructive of the very 
life of the undeveloped chick inhabiting the shell. 
In like manner, this is true of any process where- 
by the spiritual sense channels of the Individual 
Human Soul, in the physical body, are forced 
open by other agencies or intelligences from 
without. As in the case of the unhatched chick, 
the process is destructive ; it destroys the life and 
individuality of the undeveloped Soul inhabiting 
the physical shell or body of the individual. "In 
other words, Nature has provided just one 



25S OUR HERITAGE 

method or process, and one only, whereby the 
unhatched chicken may establish conscious and 
immediate contact with the larger outside world 
without violating the constructive principle of its 
own individual life and being, and inviting self- 
destruction. That is the method or process of 
evolution, the constructive process of Nature in 
Individual Life, which is the process of natural 
development, whereby through the principle of 
growth and the process of internal unfold- 
ment, it arrives naturally at a state or condi- 
tion wherein its own individual volition be- 
comes the motive power and its own, self- 
directed, intelligent efforts constitute the method 
of procedure. In this constructive process 
Nature has provided that at a certain point, 
let us name it the psychological moment, the 
intelligent, voluntary, and purposeful effort 
of the individual chick within the shell be- 
comes a vital necessity. That, in truth, is the 
one and only remaining factor, which will com- 
plete the constructive process and bring it to its 
natural fruition. Suppose at this particular point, 
this psychological moment, when Nature de- 
mands its voluntary co-operation, the Chick 
should fail to perform its individual part of the 
constructive process, and should refuse to strike 
out with its tiny beak and break the shell from 
within; What then?" Nature has provided no 
other means by which the shell may be broken 
at the right moment, or in the right place ; neither 
.has Nature provided any other method whereby 



TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE! 259 

the shell may be broken in the right way, namely, 
from within. The final and vital act of breaking 
the shell must be done from within; it must be 
done at just one point, at the exact moment, and 
it must be performed by the individual act of the 
unhatched chick desiring to become a fledging. 
There can be no proxy. There is no other on the 
inside of the shell upon whom the responsibility 
may be shifted; and, if the unhatched chick 
should fail to respond to Nature's . law ; if it 
should fail to put forth its individual effort in di- 
rect and perfect harmony with the constructive 
process of Nature, there could be but one result, 
namely, failure to realize and measure up to its 
legitimate possibilities, failure to come in contact 
with its outside world of larger life and beauty. 
And here, also, the analogy holds good in its ap- 
plication to the process whereby the Individual 
Human Soul may break the shell of his material 
environment, which limits his life to the narrow 
sphere of his physical sense perceptions. Like 
the chick, the Individual Human Soul is the only 
inhabitant within his physical tenement, the 
body ; and the Individual Human Soul is, there- 
fore, the only agency, the only intelligence, the 
only individual, the only influence which is in the 
position to comply with Nature's law, to act, to 
apply force, to break the shell from within. As 
in the case of the parturient egg, Nature contem- 
plates and provides for the devolopment and 
evolutionary unfoldment of the individual to the 
point where, and the time when, of his own free 
will and accord, by his independent and purpose- 



260 OUR HERITAGE 

ful act, he shall voluntarily break the shell of 
materiality which limits his life to the ma- 
terial plane. Nature performs her full part 
in the constructive process, in the case of man as 
in the case of the chick, when she furnishes the 
Individual Human Soul with all the conditions, 
the materials, the means, and the process in con- 
formity with which the Individual may apply to 
the problem his own intelligence in the exercise 
of his own capacities, faculties, and powers. The 
part which the Individual Human Soul must play 
is analagous in every respect to that of the chick : 
The Individual must put forth his own Individual 
effort in conformity with Nature's plan of devel- 
opment, evolutionary development, unfoldment 
and growth. The Individual alone can complete 
the process. There can be no proxy. The In- 
dividual can fulfill Nature's plan in but one way, 
namely, he must make the personal effort; he 
must Act of his own free will and volition ; and he 
must co-operate with Great Nature's constructive 
principle of evolutionary development, unfold- 
ment, and growth, from within, until, by his own 
voluntary and individual effort he breaks through 
the shell of materialism which closes the spiritual 
sense channels. When the unhatched chick 
breaks its shell and becomes a fledgling, it comes 
into direct contact with the larger and more 
beautiful world without its shell. When the In- 
dividual Human Soul voluntarily, of his own free 
will and accord, breaks the physical or material 
shell which separates him from the spiritual 
world, then, and not until then, will he enter the 



TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE! 261 

Spiritual World by the constructive process and 
in accordance with the constructive principle of 
his own Being. Then, only, will his development 
be evolutionary ! Then, only, can he control the 
process himself! Then, only, will he know the 
Truth ! Then, and then only, will the Individual 
be Free! 



262 OUR HERITAGE 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NORMAN CONQUEROR. 

During the period in which the Anglo-Saxons 
had been engaged repelling the Danish Invasion, 
the Normans had been equally diligent, on the 
other side of the Channel, founding a mighty 
State, which gradually extended its influence. 
The success of the Normans made them conspic- 
uous among the hordes which Scandanavia had 
poured forth to ravage Western Europe. They 
acquired knowledge and refinement. They 
adopted the Roman Law. They mastered the 
French tongue, which they raised to a dignity 
and importance it had never before possessed. 
They embraced Latin Theology. They were 
loyal defenders of the Papal Throne. 

* Jji * * * 

The Battle of Hastings was the first of a 
series of untoward events, which reduced the 
population of England to the tyranny of a for- 
eign dynasty. The suppression of a Nation has 
rarely been so complete. The land was parti- 
tioned out among the captains of the Invader. 
Strong legal, united with strong military, institu- 
tions, closely united with the ownership of the 
soil, enabled the Conqueror to oppress the Anglo- 
Saxon race! whilst a cruel Penal Code, more 
cruelly enforced, guarded the privileges and even 
the pleasures and sports of the Norman Lords. 



THE NORMAN CONQUEROR 263, 

Moreover, with the banner of Duke William had 
been raised the standard of the Papal States. The 
Roman Clergy were even more cruel than the 
Norman lords ; they could hardly be restrained 
from the immediate seizure of the Abbeys and 
Parishes of England, which they reckoned as. 
their legitimate spoils. Many of the hardships 
and much of the suffering which was inflicted 
upon the Anglo-Saxon race during this second 
period of subjugation is directly traceable to the 
insatiable greed of the Roman priesthood. 

For six hundred years (from 1066 to 1688), 
the History of the English People is the story of 
that struggle by which the Anglo-Saxon race re- 
gained its supremacy and became free, independ- 
dent, and powerful among the Nations of the 
Earth. These events have been chronicled in 
detail by many able and learned writers, and it 
seems unnecessary to multiply the pages of this 
Book with any extensive examination of the 
authorities ; a concise statement of the more sali- 
ent and important features of the struggle is all 
that will be attempted. The conflict was between 
two powerful families belonging to the same 
Great Teutonic race, the Normans and the 
Anglo-Saxons. Each was jealous of the other. 
The Anglo-Saxons were devoted to their ancient 
laws and institutions which had become firmly 
fixed in their habits of Thought by centuries of 
usage, and which were strongly entrenched in 
their local organisms of government, the Hun- 
dreds, Parishes, and Shires. Against those in- 
herited laws and institutions of the Anglo- 



264 OUR HERITAGE 

Saxons, the Norman King and Barons, aided, 
abetted, and assisted by the Roman clergy, 
fiercely contended for supremacy. The despotic 
institutions of the Normans favored the Roman 
law, which they brought with them, and which 
the Pope of Rome desired should be established 
in England. 



ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE 265 

CHAPTER IX. 
ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE. 

Let us return to the year five hundred and 
twenty-eight, to the decaying Roman Empire, 
for such are the requirements of this Book. 

Roman Jurisprudence has as long an unbroken 
history as any set of human institutions. The 
character of the changes which it underwent have 
been substantially ascertained ; from its com- 
mencement, to its close, it was progressively 
modified for the better, or at least what was 
deemed to be better, and the course of its im- 
provement continued through a period during 
which other branches of human endeavor materi- 
ally slackened their pace, and when civilization 
and government repeatedly threatened to settle 
down into stagnation. And although the system 
of jurisprudence, commonly referred to as the 
Civil Law of Rome, is one of the most glorious 
monuments of antiquity, yet it was not fully 
developed or reduced to its present form until 
the Sixth Century of the present era. Then it 
was that Justinian consolidated it into its pres- 
ent form, namely, the Code, the Pandects, and 
the Institutes. Doubtless the way was prepared 
and the foundations laid by the classical jurists, 
but the superstructure was raised under the aus- 
pices of the Imperial Despots ; during the days 
of the Republic, the times of the first Emperors, 
and even until the codification of the laws under 
the direction of Justinian, there were many con- 



266 OUR HERITAGE 

flicting rules of very unequal merit. In the 
space of ten centuries, observed Mr. Gibbon, the 
infinite variety of laws had filled many thousands 
of volumes, which no fortune could purchase and 
no individual capacity could digest; books could 
not easily be found, and the Judges, poor in the 
midst of plenty, were reduced to the exercise of 
their illiterate discretion. 

The Immortal Glory of reforming the juris- 
prudence of the Roman Empire belongs to Jus- 
tinian, who determined about the year 528 to 
unite in one body all the rules of law so as to 
form a system of law for the government of the 
Empire ; and in pursuance of that plan he 
appointed a commission, consisting of ten juris- 
consults, among them the celebrated Tribonian, 
to select, arrange, and classify the Imperial laws. 
That compilation, divided into twelve books, 
comprising the constitutions from Hadrian to 
Justinian, was called the Code. After the com- 
pletion of the Code, Justinian directed Tribo- 
nian to prepare a collection of selected extracts 
from the writings of the more eminent jurists. 
That work was accomplished in three years, and 
was published under the title of the Pandects, 
or the Digest. All of the judicial learning of 
former times, said Lord Mackenzie, was laid 
under contribution by Tribonian and his 
colleagues. Among the selected jurists, only 
three belonged to the age of the Republic, the 
Civilians who wrote under the first Emperors 
were seldom referred to; so that, most of the 
writers, whose learning contributed to the Digest 



ROMAN JURISPRUDENCE 267 

lived within a period of one hundred years. 
Owing to the fact that neither the Code nor the 
Digest was adapted to elementary instruction, it 
was deemed wise to prepare a treatise on the 
principles of the law. This work was also pre- 
pared by Tribonian, and was called the Insti- 
tutes. Justinian then promulgated his Novels. 

The Code, the Digest, and the Institutes all 
compiled within a few years after A. D., 528, 
comprise the Corpus Juris Civilis. This system 
of jurisprudence fell into disuse with the final 
decline and fall of the Roman Empire; and it was 
not until about five hundred years later, that a 
copy of the Digest was found at Amain, in Italy, 
which discovery, concurring with the settled 
policy of the Roman Catholic Church, gave new 
authority to the Civil Law, and its use became 
general throughout Continental Europe. 

It would be difficult to formulate a system of 
jurisprudence containing greater wisdom and jus- 
tice than appear in the legacy of Justinian, regard- 
ing all questions pertaining to the Nature, the 
Acquisition, the Possession, the Use, the Trans- 
fer and the Inheritance of Property ; under the 
Civil Law, a man was sure of possessing his own 
and of transmitting it to his heirs. In those 
compilations prepared by Tribonian under the 
direction of Justinian, we see on every page a 
regard to the principles of Equity and Justice as 
between man and man ; we find that malicious 
witnesses should be punished; that corrupt 
judges were visited with severe penalties ; that, 
the authors of libel or slander were subject to 



268 OUR HERITAGE 

severe punishment; and, that every person 
accused of crime was presumed to be innocent, 
until his guilt was established in a court of jus- 
tice, having jurisdiction of the offense. And, it .is 
mainly with regard to the administration of crim- 
inal justice that Roman Jurisprudence differs 
from the Common Law of England and the 
United States of America. The difference in this 
respect, between the two systems, is a wide one. 
The Trial Jury is unknown to the Roman system 
of Jurisprudence. 

Anglo-Saxon political ideas, their ideas of Free- 
dom, Equality, justice and Liberty, their rules 
for the conduct of criminal proceedings, for the 
administration of justice, all grew simultaneously 
with the Language and Literature of that peo- 
ple; and their ideas on all those subjects must be 
expressed in the English Language if they are 
to be clearly understood. And because this 
is true, the English Language, both in Great 
Britain and in the United States of America, has 
maintained itself without a rival. "Not merely 
because those speaking it as their mother tongue 
very greatly outnumbered all others, or because 
all acknowledged English supremacy, but for the 
simplicity of its structure; its logical order in 
the presentment of thought; its suitableness for 
the purposes of everyday life ; for the discussion 
of abstract truth and the apprehension of Anglo- 
Saxon political ideas; for the instrument of the 
Common Law ; for Science and observation ; for 
the debates of public life; for every kind of 
poetry, from humor to pathos, from descriptions 
of Nature to the action of the heart and mind." 



ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS 269 
CHAPTER X. 

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS. 

The result of the conflict between the Normans 
and the Anglo-Saxons, briefly referred to in a 
preceding chapter, seemed to turn on the con- 
test between the Common Law, the home insti- 
tutions, the customs and the usages of the Anglo- 
Saxons, and the Civil Law of Rome as inter- 
preted by foreign lords and prelates. The first 
momentous decision favored the Common Law, 
on the occasion when King Stephen issued a 
royal decree forbidding the introduction of the 
Roman Law into the English courts of justice, 
which was treated, said Mr. Justice Blackstone, 
by the monkish clergy, as an act of impiety, and 
while, "it prevented the introduction of the civil 
law into the English courts of justice, yet did 
not hinder the clergy from reading and teaching 
it in their own schools and monastaries." Neither 
did it prevent the English judges from using 
it as a basis for their decisions in many cases, 
involving rights between man and man. But 
from that time the Nation was divided into two 
parties : "The Bishops and the clergy, many of 
them foreigners, who applied themselves wholly 
to the civil and canon laws, which now came to 
be inseparably interwoven with each other; and 
the nobility and laity, who adhered with equal 
pertinacity to the old common law ; both of them 
reciprocally jealous of what they were unac- 



270 OUR HERITAGE 

quainted with, and neither of them, perhaps, 
allowing the opposite system that real merit 
which is abundantly to be found in each. This 
appears, on the one hand, from the spleen with 
which the monastic writers speak of our muni- 
cipal laws upon all occasions ; and, on the other, 
from the firm temper which the nobility showed 
at the famous parliament of Merton, when the 
prelates endeavored to procure an act declaring 
all bastards legitimate in case the parents inter- 
married at any time afterwards, alleging this only 
reason, because holy church declared such chil- 
dren legitimate; but ''all the earls and barons 
(says the Parliament roll) with one voice 
answered that they would not change the laws 
of England, which have hitherto been used and 
approved." And we find the same jealousy pre- 
vailing above a century afterwards, when the 
nobility declared with a kind of prophetic spirit, 
"that the realm of England hath never been, unto 
this hour, neither by consent of our Lord, the 
King, and the lords of Parliament, shall it ever 
be ruled or governed by the Civil Law.' And of 
this temper between the clergy and the laity 
many more instances might be given." And, 
after discussing the Common Law of England, 
the learned commentator continued: "These are 
the laws that so vigorously withstood the 
repeated attacks of the Civil Law, which estab- 
lished in the Twelfth Century a new Roman 
Empire over most of the States of the Continent ; 
states that have lost, and perhaps on that account, 
their political liberties; while the free constitu- 



ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS 271 

tion of England, perhaps upon the same account, 
has been rather improved than debased." 

During those centuries of conflict, while the 
King and the Barons remained friendly and com- 
bined their power, the people were held in sub- 
jection; but, in the process of time, the nobility 
became antagonistic to the King. Then it was 
that mutual jealousy caused each to court the 
favor of the people who, though subject to the 
tyranny of each, furnished the material from 
which armies could be marshaled. The royal 
and baronial powers weakened each other, whilst 
they strengthened the power of the people to 
which each must appeal. The Commons wisely 
and persistently availed themselves of the Acts 
of each to restore their ancient liberties. The 
meanness and tyranny, the follies and vices, the 
arbitrary disregard of the principles of Justice 
and Equity which characterized the seventh Nor- 
man King was the salvation of English Liberty. 
"Foul as it is, hell itself is defiled by the fouler 
presence of John," was the estimate of his con- 
temporaries, which has passed, says Greene, into 
the sober judgment of history. The evils result- 
ing from the want of trial by jury, combined with 
other favorable causes, united all classes in the 
effort which wrenched the Great Charter from 
that despicable monarch on the 15th of June, 
1215. In their demand for that Charter, barons 
and people alike appealed with steadfast confi- 
dence to the old Saxon laws as the basis for their 
asserted liberties. 



272 OUR HERITAGE 

The Great Charter is the first written formu- 
lation of civil rights and political liberties in 
English history. It emerged from Saxon institu- 
tions, and it has ever since been appealed to as 
the fundamental authority upon all questions 
pertaining to civil rights and political privileges, 
prerogatives, and powers in the kingdom. It 
has been said that King John, in a burst of impo- 
tent rage, flung himself on the ground and 
gnashed at sticks and straws after signing the 
Great Charter. 

That Charter was intended by its authors to 
prevent the exercise of arbitrary authority over 
his subjects by an English king; the royal pre- 
rogatives were limited in several important par- 
ticulars. This is the first instance in all history, 
where the people struck at the authority of the 
despot, rather than at his person! Of positive 
rights, demanded and conceded in the Charter, 
the two of prime importance were Habeas Cor- 
pus and the right of Trial by Jury. The first 
was that salutary provision of the old Saxon 
Law by which every free man was exempt from 
arbitrary arrest or imprisonment. The second, 
coming down from the same ancient source, pro- 
vided that every person accused of crime or mis- 
demeanor should be guaranteed a trial by an 
impartial jury of his peers, in accordance with the 
law of the land. These and other important 
provisions of the Great Charter were intended to 
limit the exercise of arbitrary power over those 
accused of real or imaginary offenses ; whilst the 
royal prerogatives were limited in several other 



ENGLAND UNDER "FOREIGN KINGS .273 

equally important provisions, so that the tyranny 
which had been so freely practised during the 
feudal ascendency in England was thenceforth 
impossible, except in violation of the chartered 
and inherent rights of the people. 

From that time, said Lord Macaulay, the Nor- 
man barons came gradually to regard Britain 
as their country, the Anglo-Saxons as their coun- 
trymen. The descendants of those who had 
fought so fiercely at Hastings, began to draw 
near to each other in friendship. They found 
that their interests were common. They 
belonged to the same great race. The steps in 
the process by which enmity of race was effaced 
are not known with accuracy ; but it is clear that 
the distinction between classes was strongly 
marked when John became King, and before the 
end of the reign of his grandson it had well nigh 
disappeared. Early in the fourteenth century the 
amalgamation of factions was all but complete, 
and it was soon made manifest by signs not to 
be mistaken that a people inferior to none exist- 
ing in the world had been formed by the mix- 
ture of three branches of the Great German 
family, the Angles, the Saxons and the Normans, 
forming what we now call the Anglo-Saxon race ! 
"Then it was that the great English people was 
formed, that the national character began to 
exhibit those peculiarities which it has ever since 
retained, and that our fathers became emphati- 
cally islanders, islanders, not merely in geograph- 
ical position, but in their policies, their feelings, 
and their manners. Then, first appeared with 



274 ,. fc OUR HERITAGE 

distinctness, that Constitution, which has ever 
since, through all changes, preserved its iden- 
tity." Then it was, that the Common Law arose 
to the dignity of a science. Then, too, that the 
most ancient colleges which still exist at the 
great national seats of learning, were founded. 
"Then was formed that language, less musical 
indeed than the languages of the South, but in 
force, in richness, in aptitude for all the highest 
purposes of the Poet, the Philosopher, and the 
Orator, inferior to none. Then, too, appeared the 
first faint dawn of that noble literature, the most 
splendid, and the most durable of the many 
glories of England." Thus the revolution which 
put an end to the tyranny of nation over nation 
was silently and imperceptibly effected. Moral 
causes effaced the distinction between Saxon and 
Norman, and then the distinction between Mas- 
ter and Servant. None can fix the precise time 
at which either distinction ceased. 

Many times the attempt was made to stretch 
the Royal authority far enough to justify the 
trial of free men without a Jury. Such attempts 
never had more than temporary success. 
Edward the second closed up a great rebellion by 
taking the life of its leader, the Earl of Lancaster, 
after trying him before a military court. Eight 
years later that same king, together with his lords 
and commons in Parliament assembled, admitted 
with shame and sorrow that the execution of 
Lancaster was a mere murder, because the courts 
were open, and he might have had a trial. When 
Queen Elizabeth, for sundry reasons affecting the 



ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS 275 

safety of the state, ordered the destruction of 
Mary Stuart, the violation of English Law was 
allowed to pass unchecked, because the Protest- 
ant element of the Nation was satisfied with the 
theology of her majesty, and feared that the 
political and theological convulsion which must 
have followed the accession of Mary to the throne 
would demoralize the Nation. It is not too much 
to say that the pronounced loyalty of Elizabeth 
to the Reformation suppressed all revolutionary 
movements during her reign and left it for the 
ill-fated house of Stuart to meet, in death and 
banishment, the verdict of the English people 
against the unlimited prerogatives of the crown 
and the theology of Rome ; but, when that same 
Queen ordered that certain other offenders, not 
of her Army, should be tried according to the 
course of military law, she heard the storm of 
popular vengeance rising; and haughty, imperi- 
ous, self-willed though she was, she yielded the 
point, for she knew that on that subject the 
English people would not consent to be further 
trifled with. Stafford, as lord lieutenant of Ire- 
land, tried the viscount Stormont before a mili- 
tary commission and executed him ; when 
impeached, he pleaded in vain that Ireland was 
in a state of insurrection, that Stormont was a 
traitor, that the army would be helpless if it could 
not punish offenders without appealing to the 
civil courts ; the Parliament was deaf, the king 
could not save him, he was condemned to suffer 
death as a traitor and a murderer. The First 
Charles issued commissions for the trial of his 



276 OUR HERITAGE 

enemies according to the course of military law ; 
yet, Parliament asserted in the Petition of Right, 
and Charles was constrained to concede that all 
his commissions were illegal. James the second 
claimed the power to suspend the law; but the 
experience of his predecessor admonished him 
that he could not suspend any man's right to a 
trial. He could easily have convicted the seven 
bishops of any offense he saw fit to charge them 
with, if he could have selected their judges from 
among the mercenary creatures to whom he had 
given commissions in his army ; but that he dare 
not do. He was constrained to send the bishops 
to a jury and then endure the mortification of see- 
ing them acquitted. He too might have had 
rebellion for an excuse. The conspiracy was 
even then ripe, which in a few short months made 
him a fugitive and an exile. He had reason to 
believe that William of Orange was making prep- 
arations to invade the kingdom. He raised an 
army to repel the invasion ; he was on Hounslow 
Heath reviewing the troops organized for that 
purpose, when he heard the great shout of joy 
that went up from Westminster Hall, was ech- 
oed back from Temple Bar, spread down the City 
and over the Thames, and rose from every vessel 
in the harbor, the simultaneous shout of two 
hundred thousand men for the triumph of justice 
and law. 

After the flight of James, Parliament assembled 
and made a Declaration of Rights, which was 
enacted as a Bill of Rights in I William and 
Mary, Session 2; wherein it was declared "That 



ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS 277 

all and singular, the rights and liberties asserted 
and claimed in the said Declaration are the true, 
ancient and indubitable rights and liberties of the 
people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, 
allowed, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and 
every, the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly 
and strictly holden and observed, as they are 
expressed in said declaration ; and all officers and 
ministers whatsoever shall serve their majesties 
and their successors according to the same in all 
times to come." This extraordinary declaration 
is more than legislation, and is like the provision 
of a permanent and unchangeable constitution. 
That Parliament of 1688 not only elected the per- 
sons who should fill the throne, but declared the 
succession thereafter, and excluded any one in 
the line of that succession, who might be a 
Roman Catholic, from ascending the throne or 
holding it, and absolving the English people from 
all allegiance to any such. 

Thus it appears, how through the fierce antag- 
onisms of two powerful Nations ; the jealous 
rivalry of two systems of jurisprudence; the con- 
flicts of two forms of Theology, that of Rome and 
that of the Anglo-Saxons ; the social strife of Nor- 
man caste with Saxon people ; the political strug- 
gles between an alien dynasty and the ancient 
laws and liberties of the Anglo-Saxons, — the 
three estates of the realm, united in the political 
organism of the First Edward, rude and imper- 
fectly defined, emerged in the Parliament of 1688, 
which was "assembled in a full and free repre- 
sentation of this Nation," and declared, in the 



278 OUR HERITAGE 

legislation referred to, their ancient rights and 
liberties; and "established the constitutional 
monarchy of England, in which the Three Estates 
were, in distinct organisms, clothed with inde- 
pendent political authority to protect and con- 
serve the rights of each, the prerogative of caste, 
and the liberties of the people, as they were pre- 
scribed and defined by the Declaration of Rights, 
enacted into law by the Parliament composed of 
the Three Estates of the Realm, the King, Lords, 
and Commons." This result gathered the historic 
laws and institutions of the Past and made them 
stand together (Con Stituo) as the written and 
permanent constitution of the English Nation. 
That Constitution was born of conflict. Its path- 
way is marked by bloody strife almost from the 
moment that the People, by their memorable 
decision, abandoned their invisible king and sur- 
rendered their great birthright, Liberty, into the 
care and keeping of an earthly monarch. Kingly 
power long held the vantage ground of Liberty, 
but the descendants of Ephraim, by brave and 
persistent effort regained their Freedom, and 
now, not only maintain their ancient Rights, but 
dictate the policy and secure the destiny of the 
English Nation. 

"Quis jam locus, 
Quae regio in terris, nostri non plena laboris !" 



! LOVE IS ETERNAL 279 

' CHAPTER XL 

LOVE IS ETERNAL. 

Happiness is the result of the Soul's harmoni- 
ous relation or adaptation to its environments 
The Soul should conform to Nature and ta 
Nature's law. Just as a flower or a tree is true ;. 
just as they obey without question those immuta- 
ble laws which enable the flowers to bloom, and 
the trees to blossom and bud, and bring forth: 
fruit, so the Intelligent Soul should bring itself 
into harmony with those principles, those eternal 
and immutable laws which condition its evolu- 
tion and growth on this Earth. It is possible for 
each individual to live, and move, and have his 
being in sunshine and happiness, whatever its 
material surroundings may be. Life does not 
consist in the things which one may possess I 
Such an atmosphere each may create. Then, the 
Soul is true to itself, and to the laws of its 
Nature ! Then, the Soul knows Happiness, an 
abiding and Eternal joy. Marie felt such Happi- 
ness. She had slept like a healthy child, tired out 
with play and pleasure. She awoke, like a child 
to whom the whole world is new and filled with 
joy and beauty. That the day should dawn 
clear and warm; that the sun should shine 
brightly; that a soft breeze should blow across 
the Lake seemed to her perfectly natural, for it 
was in accord with her Soul. The brilliant 
atmosphere in which she awoke left no room 



280 OUR HERITAGE 

for clouds or storm ; but, as she descended the 
stairs she found Maybelle Clairmont, reclining 
in an easy chair, indolently turning the pages of 
a magazine, as she slowly enhaled the smoke of 
a Turkish cigarette. 

"You were late last night !" observed Maybelle. 

"Yes!" said Marie calmly. "I met Mr. Kings- 
ley in the afternoon, and we climbed to the top 
of a crag to see the sun set ! Afterwards, it took 
some time for us to find our way home !" 

"He is a strange fellow!" mused Maybelle, as 
she threw her cigarette into the grate, "Some- 
thing of genius, perhaps much more of mad- 
ness — " 

"You mistake!" interrupted Marie. "There is 
no madness in his composition, although there is 
much of genius !" She paused, seeming to hesi- 
tate about expressing her thoughts, and then 
continuing — 

"There is one thing I should perhaps explain ; 
it may save useless argument. He is absolutely 
immovable on one point, and that is — " 

"What? Pray tell!" interrupted Maybelle. 

"Simply this! continued Marie, "That there is 
and can be no Death, what seems Death is only 
change and progress; that Life is Eternal, and 
in all its forms indestructible!" 

Maybelle Clairmont laughed harshly ; then she 
said, "I've taken his measure, and I believe in a 
fairly accurate way. He's playing a part. He is 
clever, no doubt about that; but he assumes a 
certain profound mysticism in order to give him- 
self undue importance. Tom says that 'He's 
probably only an adventurer — ' " 



LOVE IS ETERNAL 281 

Marie turned quickly, her eyes blazing with 
indignation, — 

"How can you, Maybelle ! — and he your guest! 
Mr. Kingsley is no adventurer ! Never was ! — 
Never can be ! — I've known him too long — " 

"You have known him for a few days, only !" — 
interrupted Maybelle. 

"I have known him by name, and in the Spirit! 
I have known him for a greater part of my Life !" 

"Indeed !" murmured Maybelle, half apologet- 
ically, half cynically, 

"You surprise me ! I thought" — 

"Never mind what you thought !" said Marie, 
her eyes flashing, dangerously : "Nothing gives 
small minds more cause for envy than genuine 
superiority, which they can neither imitate nor 
surpass ; and especially is this true when that 
superiority is never asserted, but only felt! You 
and Tom — " 

"I assure you — " began Maybelle. 

"There, there! I spoke hastily, I didn't mean 
to wound you ! But Vin, Mr. Kingsley, is too 
straightforward a man to be suspected of being 
an adventurer." Again Marie hesitated, as to 
whether she should make a confidant of her sis- 
ter-in-law, with whom she never had had any- 
thing in common. Then, after a moment, she 
continued : 

"He has asked me to be his wife !" 

"Of course you will refuse! He will treat you 
shamefully! He is one of the meanest men I 
have ever met ! Tom says — " 

"I won't hear it, Maybelle!" she said sharply. 



282 OUR HERITAGE 

"I shall tell him what you have said! We will 
leave here today !" 

Maybelle was silent. 

"He is, of course, an extraordinary man," con- 
tinued Marie. "He is bound to offend the many ; 
to please only a few. He is not likely to escape 
the fate of unusual or remarkable characters ; but, 
I am sure, his integrity is beyond question. He 
has unusual opinions regarding Love and Mar- 
riage, almost as remarkable as his ideas about 
Life and its changes — " 

"What are those opinions about marriage ?" 
asked Maybelle. "Hardly conventional, I sup- 
pose!" 

"Conventional! Convention and Vin are as 
far apart as the East is from the West! No! 
He doesn't fit into any social code. He says that 
Love, like Life, is eternal ! That, when Love 
exists in its purity between a man and woman 
any sort of formal or legal tie would be utterly 
unnecessary, as Love, if it be such, does not, 
cannot Change ! That — " 

"He is mad! exclaimed Maybelle. 

"He must be mad!" 

Marie laughed, softly. 

The estimate Maybelle had formed of one, so 
vastly her superior, struck Marie as more amus- 
ing than blamable. How frequently do we hear 
the hasty and ill-considered verdict of narrow, 
unintelligent, envious, conceited persons pro- 
nounced on Men and Women of high attainment 
and great intellectual power and ability! That 
Maybelle Clairmont, the vain, pampered, social 



LOVE IS ETERNAL 283 

butterfly, should show herself as not above the 
level of the common social standard, did not 
offend so much as it amused Marie. 

"Why do you laugh?" Maybelle demanded in 
petulant tones, — 

"He certainly must be mad !" 

"If he is mad, then I, too, am mad !" said Marie 
with a soft light in her eyes, — "for I believe as 
Vin does!" 

"What is his attitude regarding the equal fran- 
chise movement, I suppose he is opposed to it?" 
asked Maybelle. 

"On the contrary, he believes in the absolute 
equality of the sexes !" replied Marie. 

"He says Woman should vote ! That it is 
necessary for the preservation of civilization! 
That even if, in a rude state of society, the intel- 
ligence of one sex sufficed for the conservation 
of the interests of both, the vastly more intri- 
cate, more important, and more delicate ques- 
tions which now require intelligent solution, 
demand the intelligence of Woman as well as 
of Men, and that can never be obtained until 
they are vitally interested and have an actual 
responsibility for the conduct of public affairs. 
Very much of the inattention, the flippancy, the 
want of conscience, which we see manifested in 
public matters, even of the gravest moment, 
arises from the fact that Woman is debarred 
from taking her proper part in those important 
public affairs. He says that the arguments of 
those who fundamentally oppose equal suffrage 
for Woman are daily coming to be looked upon 



284 OUR HERITAGE 

as more absurd. May I leave you now? Vin is 
going to take me out on the Lake !" 

And with that, Marie left her, glad' to be alone 
with her Lover ! 

The shore of Carnelian Bay, deeply indented 
with deep, sharply curved coves, and bordered 
by narrow sand beaches; and, where the sand 
ended, the steep mountains rose abruptly, like a 
vast wall a little out of the perpendicular, thickly 
covered with tall pines. The rocks at the bot- 
tom of the lake, sometimes white, sometimes 
gray, made the water vividly transparent. The 
water was so clear that where it was a hundred 
feet deep, or even deeper, every pebble, every 
speckled trout, every little spot of yellow sand 
was perfectly distinct in outline; so brilliantly 
transparent was the water, so> distinct all objects 
far below them, that their boat seemed to float 
in mid-air. 

Love never dies ! It is as everlasting as Life, 
itself. A relation between Man and Woman, 
which lacks eternal stability, is not Love ; at 
the best it is simply an affectionate attachment, 
a pleasant understanding, or agreeable friend- 
ship or companionship, which is limited to this 
world. Love is Eternal! It is a blessing and a 
benediction! It affords a ballast and protection 
against all the storms that blow! It confers an 
unspeakable peace. And in the last hour, when 
the coldness of approaching dissolution shall 
creep into the stiffening limbs, and the brain shall 
be stunned and the thoughts stifled in the throes 
of the new birth, there shall come to the tongue 



LOVE IS ETERNAL 285 

a name, and as the last flickering rays of Life 
•flare up to go out of its earthly tenement for- 
ever, the tongue will speak that name which was 
long, long ago burned into the Soul by the beni- 
son of a Love that fadeth not away. 




BOOK V 
AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 289 

AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 

Let us go back, for that is a privilege of arc 
author, and consider the settlement and devel- 
opment of the American Colonies. The story 
how a few Anglo-Saxon people, fleeing from per- 
secution in Europe, braved the stern and rock- 
bound coast of New England, or plunged into- 
the unknown wilderness of tide-water Virginia, 
and thus started on a career, which has made 
their posterity the foremost race that ever lived, 
in all the tide of time, has been told in poetry 
and song, and repeated at country fire-side, until 
it is familiar to every schoolboy. It would be a 
vain show of learning to repeat that story in 
detail. Suffice it to say that the history of each 
Colony will show that the immigrants, whether 
the Pilgrim Fathers of New England; the Hol- 
landers of New Amsterdam ; the Quakers of 
Pennsylvania ; the Huguenots of South Carolina ; 
the Presbyterians of North Carolina, Virginia, 
and New Jersey, or the Catholics of Maryland, 
were, one and all, brave, self-reliant Men and 
Women. They held in a clear vision and with 
a vigorous grasp all the fundamental principles 
of Magna Charta and the rules of the Common 
Law, which they regarded as the birthright of 
every citizen. They had an intense Love of Indi- 
vidual, Political and Religious Freedom. They 



■•290 OUR HERITAGE 

-were democratic in their politics. They were 
•dissenters in their theology. 

Under such circumstances, we should expect 
to find among their institutions a reestablishment 
of the ancient folk-mote in the Town Meetings 
of New England and other colonies. There, were 
elected by majority vote their select men and 
magistrates. There, they imposed upon them- 
selves the necessary taxes for highways, officers 
of the law, and schools. They formed self-gov- 
erned communities from the very first, selecting 
for their rulers their ablest and fittest men, dis- 
tinguished for intelligence and integrity, austere, 
grave, incorruptible, patriotic men ! At no time 
did unbridled license nor unlimited discretion 
have any place in their polity. Freedom ! subject 
to Law ! Liberty ! guaranteed by Law, made by 
Free Men, constituted their glory, as it is the 
object of our adoration, and the birthright of 
every citizen ! 

What Law formed the basis of their Institu- 
tions? The Common Law of England, as dis- 
tinguished from the Civil Law of Rome. The 
Common Law, as well as the institutions which 
it developed, or in the midst of which it grew up, 
iis pervaded by a spirit of freedom, which dis- 
tinguishes it from all other systems, and pecu- 
liarly adapts it to the requirements of a self- 
governed people. It has been clearly established 
by the learned researches which have been re- 
cently made that the elements of the Common 
Law, as well as of English polity are of Germanic 
origin. The Anglo-Saxon conquerors of Great 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 291 

Britain were not mere bodies of armed invaders ; 
but they went to England, during two or more 
centuries, as families and communities. What 
manner of people were they? Guizot has dwelt 
upon the fact that the distinguishing character- 
istic of the Germans was ''their powerful senti- 
ment of personal liberty, personal independence, 
and individuality." He affirms repeatedly that 
they it was who "introduced this sentiment of 
personal independence, this love of individual 
liberty, into European civilization ; that this was 
unknown among the Romans, unknown in the 
Christian Church, and unknown in nearly all the 
civilizations of antiquity. The liberty which we 
meet with in ancient civilizations is political 
liberty, — the liberty of the citizen, not the per- 
sonal liberty of the man himself." Conquering, 
colonizing, civilizing Great Britain, our Anglo- 
Saxon ancestors carried with them "from lands 
where the Roman eagle had never been seen, or 
seen only during the momentary incursions of 
Drusus and Germanicus," their language, their 
religion, their customs, their laws, and their vil- 
lage communities. These were indigenous, their 
own, without trace or tincture of the Roman law 
and institutions. They founded, and in the 
course of centuries their successors and descen- 
dants built up their institutions on their own 
model. Macaulay, speaking of this in his ac- 
customed graphic manner, says : "The founda- 
tions of our Constitution were laid by men who 
knew nothing of the Greeks, but that they had 
denied the orthodox procession and cheated the 



292 OUR HERITAGE 

Crusaders, and nothing of Rome but that the 
Pope lived there. Those who followed contented 
themselves with improving on the original plan. 
They found models at home, and therefore they 
did not look for them abroad." Whilst the 
author of the "Spirit of the Laws," referring to 
the English Constitution, used the following well 
known words, "This beautiful system has been 
found in the forests of Germany" (Ce beau sys- 
teme a ete trouve dans les bois). Their profound 
love of personal freedom and independence was 
impressed upon the institutions which they 
founded. "Learned investigators differ concern- 
ing the extent to which Roman law existed and 
prevailed in England at the time of the Saxon 
conquest, and the extent to which its principles 
have been incorporated into English laws, 
usages, and institutions." As a system, it was, 
as has been pointed out, early and sturdily re- 
jected. Whilst there is a universal assent to the 
following propositions : "That the Saxon spirit 
of freedom was embodied in the various local 
courts ; that it was in those popular tribunals that 
the principles of law and local government were 
cultivated and disseminated; that the Saxons 
breathed into the English government and insti- 
tutions 'a spirit of equity and freedom which has 
never entirely departed from them,' and that in 
the course of time the Common law intertwined 
its roots inseparably into the constitution, polity, 
local and municipal institutions, the civil and 
criminal jurisprudence, the family relation, and 
the rights of person and of property." So from a 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 293 

period, at least as early as the time of Alfred, 
the local territorial subdivisions of England, such 
as the Parishes and Shires, enjoyed a consider- 
able degree of Freedom, and were permitted to 
assess upon themselves their local taxes and to 
manage their local affairs. The tax-payers were 
thus dignified by being an integral part of gov- 
ernment; they laid the foundations of municipal 
liberty, and decentralized political power; knowl- 
edge of the laws and reverence for and obedience 
to them were constantly taught by a participa- 
tion in their administration, as they had been 
centuries before in the forests of Germany, and 
still earlier by the People of Ephraim in Pales- 
tine. This is exactly the opposite of the systems 
prevailing among other Nations, where the cen- 
tral power absorbs, governs, and regulates every- 
thing, thereby preventing municipal freedom, 
and dwarfing the capacity to enjoy and exercise 
Individual Liberty, as well as the power to de- 
fend and preserve it. 

The system of decentralizing political power, 
of intrusting the direction of local affairs to local 
organisms of power, was from the earliest colo- 
nial period carried to a much greater extent than 
in England. "As you pass from one end of this 
country to the other, alike in the older regions 
and in the newest organized settlements, you 
will see the affairs of each road-district, school- 
district, township, county, village and city locally 
self-managed, including the administration of 
local justice. Every township in the United 
States has a local court, with power to summon 



294 OUR HERITAGE 

a jury of the vicinage, thereby bringing justice 
home to the business and bosoms of the people, 
and making it their own affair. ... It is in 
no slight degree instructive to trace the institu- 
tions of this new country back to the germs of 
the Saxon or Anglo-Saxon polity ; for when we 
touch today, not only in the towns of New 
England but even in our frontier settlements, 
the electric chain wherewith Providence hath 
bound the ages and the generations of men to- 
gether, we discover that we are in historic com- 
munion with rude and remote ancestors, although 
separated from us by seas, mountains, and cen- 
turies. 

"Whoever among you may have read the 
graphic picture which Freeman in the opening of 
his work on the 'Growth of the English Constitu- 
tion' draws of democratic institutions in the 
Swiss Cantons of Uri and Appenzell, will never 
forget it. These, he says, have existed from the 
earliest times. They are, he insists, a continual 
survival of the earliest notions and usages of old, 
Teutonic freedom, — 'An immemorial freedom, a 
freedom only less eternal than the rocks that 
guard it, that puts to shame the antiquity of 
kingly dynasties, which, by its side, seem but as 
innovations of yesterday. There, year by year, 
on some bright morning of the spring-tide, the 
sovereign people, not intrusting its rights to a 
few of its own number, but discharging them 
itself in the majesty of its corporate person, 
meets in the open market-place or in the green 
meadow at the mountain's foot, to frame the laws 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 295 

tc which it yields obedience as its own work, to< 
choose the rulers whom it can afford to greet 
with reverence as drawing their commission 
from itself. Such a sight there are but few 
Englishmen who have seen ; to be among those 
few I reckon among the highest privileges of my 
life. This is a sight such as no other corner of 
the earth can set before the traveller. . . . 
The men of Appenzell have kept one ancient rite, 
which surpasses all that I have ever seen or 
heard of in its heart-stirring solemnity. When 
the newly-chosen landammann enters on his 
office, his first duty is to bind himself by an 
oath to obey the laws of the Commonwealth 
over which he is called to rule. His second duty 
is to administer to the multitude before him the 
same oath by which he has just bound himself. 
To hear the voice of thousands of free men 
pledging themselves to obey the laws they them- 
selves have made is a moment in one's life which 
can never be forgotten, — a moment for whose 
sake it would be worth while to take a far longer 
and harder journey than that which leads us to 
Uri or Appenzell.' " The assemblies thus de- 
scribed are mere local assemblies, not in any 
sense assemblies of a nation, but of a district or 
canton or township ; and it is, indeed, not a little 
remarkable that the learned author should have 
said such assemblies could be seen in no other 
corner of the world. For more than two hun- 
dred years before that passage was written, New 
England town-meetings had been continuously 
held, where every citizen was entitled to meet 



296 OUR HERITAGE 

and vote, to determine and fix the amount of 
taxation for local affairs, and to elect the public 
officers by which their local affairs were to be 
administered for the coming year ; and in essence 
the same powers are now exercised by the whole 
body of the citizens of the thousands of muni- 
cipal and public corporations in the American 
States. Whilst the same powers have been ex- 
ercised in the same way by our forebears since 
at least the time of the Hebrew Commonwealth. 

Their love of learning was exceptional. All 
children were taught to read and write. "They 
had been settled at Plymouth, Salem, and Boston 
less than twenty years when they founded Har- 
vard College." As early as 1642, every township 
in Massachusetts had a schoolmaster; by 1665, 
every township embracing fifty families had a 
common school. Communities of over one hun- 
dred families had a grammar school, where Latin 
was taught. It matters little whether the Colon- 
ists drew their inspiration for popular education 
from England or Holland, because the majority 
of the people who settled the original Thirteen 
States were descendants of the great Germanic 
race, and it is from their institutions as a race 
that American institutions were drawn, albeit 
most of them came immediately from English In- 
stitutions. 

Representatives from the several townships and 
plantations formed a general assembly. In Vir- 
ginia, "on the 24th July, 1621, a regular govern- 
ment was constituted, composed of the governor, 
council and house of burgesses, elected by the 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 297 

people." This General Assembly was granted 
full power as to all matters concerning- the wel- 
fare of the Colony, and to make, ordain, and 
enact such general laws for the behoof of said 
Colony as shall appear necessary or requisite. 
This was the first body politic in America ; de- 
pendent upon, but distinct from, the parent gov- 
ernment. During the session of the General 
Assembly in 1623, it was asserted that the 
governor "shall not lay any taxes or imposts 
upon_ the Colonists, their lands or commodities, 
otherway than by authority of the General As- 
sembly, to be levied and employed as the said 
Assembly shall appoint." It is of interest to 
observe that this assertion of popular power over 
taxation and appropriation, the keynote of Lib- 
erty, preceded the conflict between the English 
House of Commons and Charles Stuart. After 
the establishment of the English Commonwealth 
in 165 1, it was agreed by treaty, among other 
things, that "Virginia shall be free from all tax, 
custom, and imposition whatever, and none to* be 
imposed on them without the consent of the 
General Assembly, and so that neither forts or 
castles be erected or garrisons be maintained, 
without their consent." The House of Burgesses 
in Virginia, the Legislature in Massachusetts, 
and other colonies, composed of delegates, chosen 
by the people of the several townships, exer- 
cised from the very earliest times the rights of 
sovereignty, especially in the collection and dis- 
bursements of taxes, and the direction of military 
affairs. "The infant colonies governed them- 



298 OUR HERITAGE 

selves, and elected their own magistrates, from 
the governor to the selectmen, and this was true 
as well of the middle and southern as of the 
eastern colonies." The governors were chosen 
by the people in secret ballot until 1684, when 
all charters were revoked ; theretofore, the 
Colonies had received but little attention from 
their home government; they grew without in- 
terference and developed their institutions in 
their own way, according to the circumstances 
surrounding each, and the dangers confronting 
them. Owing to the necessity of defending 
themselves against wild beasts and still wilder 
men, the possession and use of firearms was uni- 
versal. Every man had a rifle and powderhorn, 
and in the early days of the settlements arms 
were continually carried even to church. "Thus 
were the new settlers inured to danger and self- 
defense and bloody contests with their savage 
foes." They formed a firm material from which 
armies could be marshalled, able to face regular 
troops, and engage in effective operations ; but 
for the universal use of weapons, American in- 
dependence could not have been so soon ac- 
complished. "Everywhere this new life of Eng- 
lishmen in a new land developed their self-re- 
liance, their power of work, their skill in arms, 
their habit of common association for common 
purposes, and their keen, intelligent knowledge 
of political conditions." With a tenacious grip 
on their rights as free men, which they drew 
from all Germanic institutions, rather than from 
England, alone ; in the full enjoyment of all the 



THE COLONIAL PERIOD 299 

Individual, Civil and Religious Liberty, enjoyed 
by their ancestors in the forests of Germany ; 
with equal laws, and equal protection of the 
laws, the settlements rapidly grew and multi- 
plied. During the one hundred and fifty years, 
following the first settlements, while Europe was 
shaken to the center by strife, while the people 
of England were raising a bloody scaffold across 
the path of arbitrary power, the independent 
colonists were pursuing the even tenor of their 
way, laying the foundations of a new common- 
wealth, broadly and deeply, in the virgin soil of 
America, based on truer and more natural con- 
ditions, more just and equal and therefore more 
firm and enduring than any the world had seen. 
The people of the American Colonies had man- 
aged their own affairs for six generations. Their 
institutions were necessarily popular, and al- 
though many of the colonists had ever seen a 
king, they had not forgotten the circumstances 
under which their ancestors had migrated to the 
western world. The attachment which they pro- 
fessed for England was an ideal sentiment, 
rather than an actual feeling of loyalty. Rarely 
did a colonist visit England, and except among 
the later arrivals, their English relatives were un- 
known. Indeed, they migrated as families. Loy- 
alty to the king was gradually supplanted by 
devotion to the laws and institutions which they 
had brought with them or adopted in their new 
home, and which they regarded as their very 
own. The French and Indian wars developed 
their military capacity; the charm of British in- 



300 OUR HERITAGE 

vincibility had been broken by the humiliating 
defeat of Braddock, whilst Washington had 
saved the remnant of the British army from 
annihilation on that memorable occasion. Sep- 
arated by three thousand miles of stormy ocean 
from the home government, the Colonies began 
to feel their importance, to realize the difficulty 
of their conquest by any forces England could 
marshall. They felt, perhaps they clearly fore- 
saw, their inevitable destiny. The fairest portion 
of North America was theirs by the right of 
actual possession, and long habits of self-govern- 
ment, and they were determined to keep it. 
"Why should they be dependent on a country 
that crippled their commerce, that stifled their 
manufacturers, that regulated their fisheries, that 
appointed their governors, and regarded them 
with selfish_ views ; as a people to be taxed in 
order that British merchants and manufacturers 
should be enriched?" They were not dependent. 
They were not helpless. In a general sense, they 
admitted their allegiance to the British crown ; 
but, as has been noted, the sentiment was rather 
ideal than real, whilst it was entirely destroyed, 
except among the wealthy and official classes, 
when the British government asserted and at- 
tempted to enforce the right to tax them without 
their consent. 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR 301 

CHAPTER II. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

As the personal character of King John had 
made the demand for Magna Charta imperative ; 
so, added to the natural incentives and tenden- 
cies toward the Independence of the American 
colonies, there was the personality of George 
III, who ascended the Throne of England in 
1760, and was one of the most incapable mon- 
archs of modern times. His ideas of government 
were primal and despotic. Stubborn, stupid, 
thick-headed ! the idea of Humanity and its rights 
was utterly lacking from his mind. He could 
not conceive of Liberty. In administering the 
government of England, his chosen ministers 
were men as illiberal, ignorant, and incompetent 
as himself! It was hardly within the range of 
probabilities that the Liberty-loving people of 
America would long endure the arbitrary meth- 
ods of that narrow-minded, despotic monarch! 
The American revolution, said Ridpath, was one 
of the most heroic events in the history of man- 
kind. It was not lacking in any element of glory. 
"Whether considered with reference to the gen- 
eral causes which produced it, or viewed with 
respect to the personal agency by which it was 
accomplished, the struggle of our fathers for 
liberty suffers not by comparison with the grand- 
est conflicts of ancient or modern times. The 
motives which those great men might justly 



302 OUR HERITAGE 

plead for breaking their allegiance to the British 
crown and organizing a rebellion ; the patient 
self-restraint with which they bore for fifteen 
years a series of aggressions and outrages which 
they knew to be utterly subversive to the Liber- 
ties of Englishmen ; the calmness with which 
they proceeded from step to step in the attempted 
maintenance of their rights by reason ; the readi- 
ness with which they opened their hearts to 
entertain the new angels of Liberty ; the back- 
ward look which they cast through sighs and 
tears at their abandoned loyalty to England; the 
firy zeal and brave resolve with which at last 
they drew their swords, trampled in mire and 
blood the banner of St. George, and raised a 
new flag in the sight of the Nations; the per- 
sonal character and genius of the men who did 
it; their loyal devotion to principle; their fidel- 
ity ; their courage ; their lofty purpose and unsul- 
lied patriotism, all combine to stamp the strug- 
gle with the impress of imperishable grandeur. " 
The immediate cause of the Revolutionary war 
was the assertion of power by the British Par- 
liament to legislate for the Colonies in all cases 
whatsoever, including the subject of taxation. 
It was urged by the Ministry that taxation and 
protection are co-relative duties ; that great Brit- 
ain had aided and assisted the Colonies in the 
French and Indian wars, and therefore America 
was bound to submit to taxation. This has been 
the plea of arbitrary power all round the globe, 
but it was not in accord with the spirit of the 
British Constitution, much less with the spirit 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR 303 

of the Common Law, neither was it in harmony 
with the convictions of reflecting Englishmen ; 
and a when the Colonies appealed with steadfast 
confidence to the cherished principles of the 
British Constitution, they found a powerful ally 
in the Love of Liberty, which had developed 
into a habit of mind in the true Englishman of 
the period. His attachment to it was stronger 
than the theory of the power of Parliament over 
distant colonies. And in the great debates which 
followed, it was fearlessly urged by Pitt that, 
"The Commons of America, represented in their 
several assemblies, have ever been in possession 
of the exercise of this their cherished right, of 
giving and granting their own money. They 
would have been slaves, if they had not enjoyed 

it I rejoice that America has resisted. If 

.its millions of inhabitants had submitted, taxes 
would soon have been laid on Ireland ; and, if 
ever this Nation should have a tyrant for a king, 
six millions of free men, so dead to all the feel- 
ings of Liberty as voluntarily to submit to be 
slaves, would be fit instruments to make slaves 
of the rest." Mr. Bancroft said of the contest, — 
"It is the glory of England that the rightful- 
ness of the Stamp Act was in England itself 
the subject of dispute. It could have been so 
nowhere else. The King of France taxed the 
French colonies as a matter of course; the King 
of Spain collected a revenue by his own will in 
Mexico and Peru, in Cuba and Porto Rico, and 
wherever he ruled ; the States General of the 
Netherlands had no constitutional scruples about 



304 OUR HERITAGE 

imposing duties on their outlying possessions. 
To England exclusively belongs the honor that 
between her and her colonies the question of 
right could arise; it is still more to her Glory, 
as well as to her happiness and freedom, that in 
that contest her success was not possible. Her 
principles, her traditions, her liberty, her consti- 
tution, all forbade that arbitrary power should 
become her characteristic. The Shaft, aimed at 
her new colonial policy, was tipped with a feather 
from her own wing." Thus, the friends of Con- 
stitutional Liberty, on both sides of the Atlantic, 
stood firmly for the maintenance of their cher- 
ished rights; -and the words of Otis, Adams, 
Washington, Franklin and others, on the one 
side; Pitt, Camden, Burke, Barre and others, on 
the other side, inspire us with wonder and admir- 
ation at the Wisdom, the Courage, the Patience, 
and the Moderation of the great men of the time. 
Those discussions made the writing of the 
Declaration of Independence easy, and inspired 
the Nation with the patriotism, the patience, and 
the self-sacrifice necessary to maintain and estab- 
lish the principles of that Immortal Production. 
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That 
all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
by their creator with certain unalienable rights; 
that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the Pur- 
suit of Happiness ; that, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned ; that, whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR 305 

of the people to alter or abolish it, and to insti- 
tute a new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness." All of which 
is not very different in spirit, from the memor- 
able proposition which the people of Ephraim 
submitted to Rehoboam, king of Judah, so many 
centuries before. "Make thou the grievous ser- 
vice of thy Father and his heavy yoke which he 
put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee." 
The principles promulgated by the Declaration of 
Independence are of rights which spring from 
Eternal Justice, Eternal Liberty, and Eternal 
Truth; the assertion whereof was made for all 
generations, at all times and under all circum- 
stances, without any exception or qualification, 
for "the proposition which admits of exceptions 
can never be self-evident !" And yet the Women 
of America have been excluded from any share in 
the government ! 

The political effect of the Declaration was the 
announcement of the birth of a Nation. It estab- 
lished a government ; imperfect, but a govern- 
ment none the less. The war was no longer a 
civil war. Then it was that Britain became a 
foreign Nation to the people of America. Then, 
that every former subject of George III, resident 
in the American States, owed primary allegiance 
to the dynasty of the People, and became a citi- 
zen of the United Colonies. But, except in this, 
everything remained as before. The Colonies 
did not dissolve into a state of anarchy. The 



306 OUR HERITAGE 

new Nation did not undertake a social revolu- 
tion. Internal government, or police power, was 
reserved by the several Colonies, and each, in 
its own way, was at perfect liberty to enter upon 
such domestic reform as circumstances seemed 
to require. But the colonies which were thence- 
forth independent of the British Crown were not 
independent of one another; the United States 
of America, presenting itself to the world as 
one political entity, assumed power over War 
and Peace, Foreign Alliances and Commerce. 

The struggle by which the American People 
maintained and established those principles is 
familiar. It is unnecessary to dwell upon it. 
Perhaps no one event had a more salutory effect 
upon the public spirit of the new Nation than 
the voluntary surrender of his commission by 
Washington at the close of the war. Mr. Ban- 
croft said of that memorable occasion — "Wash- 
ington spoke of the rectitude of the common 
cause; the support of congress; of his country- 
men ; of providence ; and he commended the 
interests of 'our dearest country to the care of 
Almighty God.' Then saying that he had fin- 
ished the work assigned him to do, he bade an 
affectionate farewell to the august body under 
whose orders he had so long acted, resigned with 
satisfaction the commission which he had ac- 
cepted with diffidence, and took leave of public 
life. His emotion was so great that, as he ad- 
vanced and delivered up his commission, he 
seemed unable to have uttered more/' But, in 
this patriotic and memorable action, Washington 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR 307 

simply followed an ancient custom of his people 
for, as we have seen, the Duke who was elected 
to take chief command during a war, returned, 
at its close, to his former position in society. 
Nevertheless, this patriotic and memorable action 
should make it impossible for any future com- 
mander-in-chief to retain power after his work 
were accomplished, setting a proud example of 
the superiority of moral excellence over military 
success and genius or political power. 




308 OUR HERITAGE 

THE CONSTITUTION. 

CHAPTER III. 

We proceed to that period following the Rev- 
olutionary War, during which the Constitution 
of the United States was adopted and the Fed- 
eral Government was established. The materials 
from which the Constitution was built were the 
gifts of the Ages. The Men who fashioned it 
followed the suggestions of no theoretical writer 
of their own or former times. Like Moses, like 
Alfred, they used the material which time had 
tried, and which accumulated experience had 
tested ; they fashioned it to meet the conditions 
of the new Nation. They were great constructive 
Statesmen. They builded wisely. Their par- 
amount purpose in creating the Federal Govern- 
ment was to secure the blessings of Liberty for 
themselves and their posterity. To that end, 
they declared rights, granted powers, and created 
the Federal Government. Observe how per- 
sonal Liberty in the several states is protected 
by the provisions as to exposte facto laws, 
against the power of States to enact them ; as to 
Contract rights, against the power of the States 
to impair them ; restrictions as to taxation, and 
as to legal tender; and Security by Habeas 
Corpus. Consider the limitations imposed on 
Federal authority in the Bill of Rights; privi- 
leges of free speech, of a free press, of peaceable 
assemblages of the people, of the right to keep 



THE CONSTITUTION 309 

and bear arms ; immunities from search and seiz- 
ure, from self-accusation, from second trial ; and 
privilege of trial by due process of law, which 
includes indictment by a Grand Jury, and public 
and impartial trial by a Petit Jury, with all the 
safeguards known to the Common Law. 
Those great Men foresaw that troublous times 
would come, when rulers and people would grow 
restive under restraint ; they expected that con- 
tests would arise between classes and sections, 
possibly between the various races which inhabit 
this vast territory ; perhaps between capital and 
labor; and they supposed that, in such times, 
Judges themselves might not be safely trusted 
where the whole power of the Federal Gorvern- 
ment is arrayed against the accused party. And 
whilst little has as yet occurred to justify the 
doubt of judicial integrity which they seemed to 
feel, yet they could look only to the experience 
of that government whose history they best 
knew, and they saw there the ferocity of Jeffreys 
and Scroggs, the timidity of Guilford, and the 
venality of Saunders and Wright. It seemed 
necessary therefore, not only to make the judi- 
ciary as perfect as possible, but to give the citi- 
zen still another shield against his government; 
and to that end, they could think of no better 
provision than a public trial by an impartial jury. 
It is the best protection for innocence, and the 
surest mode of punishing guilt, that has ever 
been devised among men. It has borne the test 
of a longer experience and borne it better than 
any other legal institution that ever existed. 



310 OUR HERITAGE 

England and the United States owe more of their 
Freedom, their Grandeur, their Happiness, and 
their Prosperity to that than to all other causes 
put together. It has had the approbation not 
only of those who have lived under it but of great 
thinkers who have looked at it calmly from a 
distance and judged it impartially; Montesquieu 
and De Tocqueville speak of it with an admira- 
tion as rapturous as that of Blackstone, of 
Cooley, or of Tucker. There was no subject 
upon which all of the inhabitants of the American 
States were more perfectly unanimous than they 
were in their determination to maintain that 
great bulwark of Liberty unimpaired. If the men 
who achieved the Independence of the American 
Colonies, when they came to frame a government 
for themselves and their posterity, had failed to 
insert a provision making the Jury System im- 
perative, perpetual, and universal, they would 
have been recreant to the principles of that 
Liberty of which they professed to be the special 
champions. They were guilty of no such neglect. 
They not only took care of the Jury System ! they 
regulated every step to be taken in a criminal 
trial. They knew very well that no people could 
be free under a government which had power to 
punish without restraint. Hamilton, speaking 
through the "Federalist," expressed the universal 
sentiment of his time, when he said that the 
arbitrary power of conviction and punishment 
for pretended offenses had been the great engine 
of Despotism in all ages, and in all countries. 
The existence of such a power is incompatible 



THE CONSTITUTION 311 

with free institutions ; but they were not unwise 
enough to put unlimited power in the hands of 
the government, and then take away the protec- 
tion of the Law from the rights and privileges 
of the people; it was not thus that they sought 
"To secure the blessings of Liberty !" They de- 
termined that not one drop of blood, which had 
been shed during the centuries of conflict with 
arbitrary power should be forgotten, but that the 
fruits of every popular victory should be gar- 
nered up and preserved ; of all the great rights, 
privileges and immunities which had been so 
hardly won, they threw not an atom away. They 
went over the provisions of Magna Charta, the 
Petition of Right, the Declaration of Rights, the 
Bill of Rights, and the Rules of the Common 
Law, and whatever was found to favor Indi- 
vidual Liberty, they carefully inserted it in their 
own system, improved, by clear expresion ; 
Strengthened, by heavier sanction ; Extended, by 
a more universal application. They put all those 
provisions into the fundamental law of the 
Federal Government, so that neither Tyranny in 
the Executive, nor Popular Rage in the Legis- 
lative Body, could change them, without chang- 
ing, perhaps destroying, the Government itself. 
In addition to these popular individual con- 
siderations regarding the Jury System, others, 
of even greater significance to society at large 
may be mentioned ; among these are the iniquisi- 
torial powers of a duly constituted grand Jury. 
The grand jury is an informing and accusing 
body, rather than a judicial tribunal ; it may 
upon its own motion originate charges against 



-312 OUR HERITAGE 

offenders. Mr. Justice Field, in his charge to the 
grand jury before a federal court, used the fol- 
lowing language: "Into every quarter of the 
globe in which the Anglo-Saxon race have 
formed settlements, they have carried with them 
this time honored institution, ever regarding it 
with the deepest veneration and connecting its 
perpetuity with that of civil liberty. In their 
independent action the persecuted have found 
the most fearless protectors ; and in the records 
-of their doings are to be discovered the noblest 
stands against the oppressions of power, the 
virulence of malice, and the intemperance of pre- 
judice." One of the foremost among the great 
men who have served the cause of constitutional 
government, said : "In the annals of the world 
there is not found another institution so well 
adapted for avoiding all the inconveniences and 
abuses, which would otherwise arise from malice, 
from rigor, from negligence, or from partiality in 
the prosecution of crimes." And it is only in 
those States and Cities, like San Francisco, where 
the inquisitorial powers of the grand jury have 
been impaired, through the introduction of new 
and arbitary methods, such as prosecution upon 
information after examination and commitment 
by a justice of the peace, that graft and corrup- 
tion have been possible. So that Liberty of the 
Individual and protection of Society cannot but 
subsist so long as the Jury System remains 
sacred and inviolate. 



SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE 313 

CHAPTER IV. 

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 

The first form of Government, as we have 
seen, was patriarchal or tribal. The family was 
the rudiment of the State. Among the Hebrews, 
the organization was by tribes, although the 
rights and privileges of the Individual were 
recognized; that same was true among the Ger- 
mans, although there the importance of the Indi- 
vidual had become largely augmented. The 
citizens of the several Grecian states were of one 
blood, real or assumed. Nations, as the word im- 
plies, were large communities of the same kind ; 
and such ''Nationalities" survive to this day, a 
source of strength in their harmonious unity, as 
of strife, where two or more of them exist in their 
original separateness, but, where they are, never- 
theless, held together under a common ruler. 
Rome learned to conserve Humanity by making 
utizens of those whom she vanquished ; a sys- 
tem of assimiliation, which was imitated, per- 
haps, by several of the European governments 
ii establishing colonies in foreign lands ; but 
the English, German, Irish and Scotch emigrants 
cane to America as Individuals, and made little 
attempt to perpetuate their Nationality. Fleeing 
fron political and theological persecution in 
Euope, and finding a refuge in America, they 
nattrally sought to maintain their Individuality 
as Fee Men. Hence, the principle of Individual 



314 OUR HERITAGE 

Liberty was extended as it never had been 
before, except in the Forests of Germany. As 
the ocean is made up of drops, said Bancroft, so 
American Society is composed of Separate, Dis- 
tinct, constantly moving Individuals, ever in 
reciprocal motion, struggling against each other 
and with each other ; so that the Institution and 
Laws of the People of America rise out of the 
Mass of Individual Thought, which, in the aggre- 
gate, constitutes Public Opinion, and, like the 
waters of the Ocean, is rolling evermore. 

Religion was recognized as an attribute of 
the Individual. It cannot be usurped by any 
creed, corporation, or church ! In the earliest 
states known to history, government and theol- 
ogy were one and inseparable. Each community 
had its own particular deity, to which its mem- 
bers must worship and bow down. Rome, as 
she adopted into citizenship those whom she 
vanquished, sometimes recognized their gods. 
No one spoke publicly of Individual Religious 
Liberty, until a voice in Judea announced for ail 
Nations a simple, spiritual, and sublime Faiti, 
based on the Fatherhood of God and the Univfl-- 
sal Brotherhood of Man. During the infancy of 
the Christian Religion, the purity of that Fath 
was upheld ; but, no sooner was Christiaiity 
adopted by the Roman Empire, than it was slorn 
of its character of Individual Religious Lib<rty, 
burdened and polluted by an unholy alliance with 
a decadent state, depraved and degraded b the 
ancient Mithric rites, and so it continues. For 
seventeen long centuries, the "Religion of ^ove" 



SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE 315 

proved to be as much the Religion of Hate, and 
infinitely more the religion of Persecution than 
Mahometanism, its greatest Theological rival. 
"Heresies grew up, before the Apostles died ; 
and God hated the Nicolaitans, while John, at 
Patmos, proclaimed his coming wrath. Sects 
wrangled, and each, as it gained the power, per- 
secuted the other, until the soil of the whole 
Christian world was watered with the Blood, and 
fattened on the Flesh, and whitened with the 
Bones of Martyrs, and Human Ingenuity was 
taxed to the utmost to invent new modes by 
which tortures and agonies could be prolonged 
and made more exquisite." Has there been any 
fundamental change in the Ctmrch? Would the 
Church repeat those atrocious acts, if She had the 
power? 

But, the People of the United States of 
America, then the most sincere in their belief of 
the Gospel of Religious Liberty, when they came 
to establish a government, refused to regard 
Religion as a matter to be regulated by any 
corporate body, by any Creed, by any Church, or 
as having a headship or representative in any 
mundane authority. They vindicated Individu- 
ality in Religion, and in it above all. They 
dared to accept, in their relations to the Supreme 
Architect and Ruler of the Universe, the prin- 
ciple so clearly and fearlessly annunciated by 
Jesus, the Essene, "Render unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's." They placed the con- 
trol of temporal affairs with the civil power ; 



316 OUR HERITAGE 

and, in harmony with the whole spirit of the 
Constitution, they withheld from the Federal 
Government the power to invade the Home of 
Reason, the Citadel of Conscience, the Sanctuary 
of the Soul, and not from indifference, but in 
order that the Spirit of Truth might move in 
Freedom, in Majesty, and in Power! It was in 
Catholic Maryland that Religious Freedom, the 
right to worship God according to the dictates 
of the Individual Conscience, was first asserted 
and its promulgation on the banks of the St. 
Mary's river, not far from the capitol at Wash- 
ington, passed into the fundamental law of the 
Nation. The first amendment to the constitu- 
tion of the United States declared that "Con- 
gress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free exer- 
cise thereof." The purpose of that amendment 
was to prevent the establishment of a national 
religious or theological system; it was designed 
to prevent the consolidation of Church and 
State ; and to allow each Individual to worship 
God as his conscience might dictate. So long 
as all the various sects into w T hich the Christian 
Church has been split, Protestant and Catholic, 
maintained their integrity, the provision referred 
to did no particular harm, could do no particular 
good, But the Federal Government, hampered 
by that constitutional amendment, found it 
impossible to cope with, curb, control or even 
regulate the Mormon Church as circumstances 
seemed to require. And, if it be true that the 
•spirit of the Great Teacher has not been main- 



SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE 317 

tained by Orthodox Christianity ; if, vanity and 
greed have eaten out the heart of that move- 
ment; if, Orthodox Christianity, as an institution, 
no longer commands the sympathy or respect of 
a vast number of intelligent Men and Women 
of our Age ; if, it has become the cloak of the 
avaricious ; if, its temples have become a shelter 
for the money changers ; if, "all this and much 
more is especially true of the Roman Catholic 
Church ;" if, it has become an institution of 
almost unlimited wealth and power; if, it levies 
its tribute on every industry ; if, it seeks to 
destroy our Public School System ; if, it has 
laid its clerical hand over the mouth of the 
newspaper press of the Nation, until, as its arch- 
bishops openly declare, the newspaper press 
dare not speak without their consent ! If, as 
stated by the Author of the Great Work, "antici- 
pating that the time is not far distant when 
its designs upon the liberties of the people in 
general, and upon our public school system in 
particular, would be unmasked and with the 
unmasking, that the righteous indignation of the 
Liberty-Loving men and women in all denomi- 
nations and without would awaken the Spirit of 
true and loyal Americanism, it has organized 
and equipped a secret military organization, and 
is training an immense army of men for action 
in the field, when that eventful hour shall come !" 
If, in short, as stated by the author of that 
work, the Roman Catholic Church has "long 
been planning to control both the political and 
educational interests and machinery of our Gov- 



318 OUR HERITAGE 

ernment and our country ; its purpose has been 
and is to control them peaceably, if possible, by 
secret Jesuitical methods and under cover of a 
muzzled press ; but, in the event these methods 
fail, then, it is preparing to force an internal 
revolution which will enlist with it, not only the 
Catholics of America, but the vast horde of 
ignorant and illiterate anti-American foreigners 
who are swarming to this country, from all 
quarters of the globe, as a result of Catholic 
influence upon the Congress of the United 
States !" If this be true ; or should there ever 
come a time when it can be truthfully said, then, 
the amendment to the Constitution referred to,, 
designed to perpetuate Individual Religious 
Liberty, might defeat the very purpose for which 
it was adopted. And it might be well to pause 
and consider whether equal suffrage for Women 
might not be a solution of the problem. 




THE GREATEST CENTURY 319 

CHAPTER V. 
THE GREATEST CENTURY. 

Thus was the Federal Government organized; 
a government, of the people, by the people, for 
the people ; limited in all its operations by the 
Constitution, from which it derived its own exist- 
ence, and by virtue of which alone, it continues 
to exist and act as a government and sover- 
eignty. A Nation, without a king, or nobles, 
or hereditary caste ! A Nation, knowing little 
of landlords or taxation, and nothing whatever 
of tithes! Its framers were more sincerely 
religious, better educated, of serener minds and 
purer morals than the men of any former Repub- 
lic. By calm meditation and friendly counsel, 
they prepared a fundamental law, which, in its 
union of Liberty with Strength and Administra- 
tive Order, excelled every one known before. 
And, in order to perfect that Charter of Liberty, 
and forever render armed conflict unnecessary, 
they reserved to the People the power to 
amend the Constitution. They may remove by 
peaceful means every imperfection which time 
may disclose ; they may limit Executive power. 
But no change in the provisions of that funda- 
mental law may be hastily made. 

The Greatest Century in the history of our 
race and world has passed since that work was 
accomplished. The Country has grown vast in 
its extent, colossal and magnificent in its accum- 



320 OUR HERITAGE 

ulated wealth and prosperity ; irresistibly great 
in its intelligent population. And although our 
territory has stretched out, wider and wider, 
and our population has spread, further and 
further, yet they have not outrun its protection 
or its benefits. Bounteous and varied the 
harvests of scientific discovery, which number- 
less ingenious minds have garnered during that 
time; infinite have been the transformations of 
the world. We can hardly realize what we 
are doing, or the tremendous natural forces we 
have learned to set in motion and control. We 
send great steamers across the oceans in a few 
days; ponderous trains hourly thunder over the 
mountains and across the continent ; we sit in our 
offices and talk, from city to city ; flash messages 
around the globe in a moment ; or communicate 
with a ship in mid-ocean at our pleasure. We 
fly faster that the winged-gods of Mythology. 
The giants and fables of antiquity are more than 
discounted by the actual facts of the present, 
which are immediately made known to us by 
the Great Newspapers of the Country ; and, no 
doubt, all this is but the beginning of what is 
yet to be. 

More than two thousand years ago Plato 
observed that the Nature of Justice can be more 
readily discerned in a Nation than in one Man. 
It may now be studied in the aggregate States 
of the World. Ignorance and prejudice come 
from isolation; they disappear before culture 
and refinement. We think the thought, we hope 
the hope, of Humanity. Individuals of genuine 



THE GREATEST CENTURY 321 

genius and inspiration, once spoke of the Dawn 
of Civilization in some one locality. We live in 
the morning of the World. Day by day, those 
who control public affairs are arraigned before 
the judgment seat of Humanity. A government 
or political party which adopts a merely selfish 
policy is doomed ; its policy forbids mankind 
to be its friend. The Statesman, who founds 
the well-being of his Nation on Justice and. 
Truth, has all the people of the World for a 
cloud of Witnesses and, as Emerson said, "The 
linked hemispheres attest his deed." History 
aids in the study of Humanity by following the 
footsteps of Men and States from the earliest 
times. The Individual who seeks to woo Truth 
by solitary meditation would lose his way amid 
mazes of speculation, or involve himself in 
mystic visions, so that the arms which he 
extends to embrace what are but formless 
shadows return empty to his breast. To find 
Truth, we must study the Evolution of 
Humanity. The laws of which Reason is con- 
scious can be best tested by experience, and in- 
ductions will be the more accurate, the larger the 
experience from which they are drawn. However 
great may be the number of those who persuade 
themselves that there is in Man nothing 
superior to himself, however numerous those 
who believe that nations float darkling down the 
stream of the ages, swaying with every wind, 
and ignorant whither they are drifting, history 
interposes with evidence that tyranny and 
injustice lead inevitably to decay; that Justice, 



322 OUR HERITAGE 

Right and Truth, however hard may be the 
struggle, always prove resistless. Through this 
assurance Humanity learns to renew its youth. 
The rising generations are influenced to take an 
active part in the grand world drama of the 
race ! Old age, staying itself upon this assurance, 
not relinquishing a jot of courage, nor seeing 
cause to argue against the purpose of a higher 
power, pursues its course in the firm and abiding 
conviction that the path of Humanity is still 
fresh with the dews of the morning. 




THE UNIVERSAL LAW 323 

CHAPTER VI. 
THE UNIVERSAL LAW. 

Although a practical Unity of the American 
People was reached only through the discipline 
of their virtues in the stern school of adversity, 
and whilst the Federal Government doubtless 
had its origin in the necessities of disordered 
finance, prostrate commerce, and ruined credit; 
yet, for nearly a century, the chief concern 
of the people of this Nation was the preserva- 
tion of the Union, without which they deemed 
it impossible that Liberty could be preserved. 
They drenched the southern states with fraternal 
blood in order that the Union might live ! Those 
who wrested the first great fortunes from the 
metallic mountains of the west, capitalized the 
result of their own fortuitous labor and made 
possible those vast combinations of wealth, 
which in a generation, have so successfully ex- 
ploited the natural resources belonging to the 
People of this Nation. Gone are the millions 
of acres of public land, thrown away by a lavish, 
a foolish, a time-serving, a traitorous govern- 
ment. Exhausted are the mines of Michigan, of 
Montana, of Pennsylvania. Devastated and 
destroyed, the mighty forests of pine which, 
only a generation ago, clothed the hills of Maine, 
of Michigan, of Minnesota, and of Wisconsin ; 
and those who now hold title to the merchant- 
able timber, standing in the so-called forest 
reserves of this Nation, can be counted on the 



324 OUR HERITAGE 

fingers of two hands ; the much talked of For- 
estry Bureau was established and it is main- 
tained at the expense of the people of this Nation 
for the benefit of the mighty timber barons of 
whom one Weyehausser is chief. 

The problem pressing upon us for solution 
is not, How are we to preserve the Union? but 
rather, How are we to preserve Liberty? The 
National government is strongly centralized. It 
is a plutocracy. Twenty men, certainly not 
more than fifty men, out of ninety-three 
millions of our population, now own or control 
more than eighty per cent, of the wealth of the 
entire nation. They dictate the policy of the 
government. Their interests are fostered, 
guarded, tended, watched over by a horde of 
sycophants: Hired Turlo-es in the law; Panders 
in Politics; time-servers in the pulpits; lick- 
spittles in the chairs of our colleges and univer- 
sities; Judases in our legislative halls, whilst 
miserable, fawning, parasites crawl and cling, 
like leeches, upon the administrative offices of 
the Federal Government. The tendency of pop- 
ular institutions is toward despotism. A young 
man once approached the Great Teacher, saying, 
"Speak unto my brother, that he divide the 
inheritance with me !" But the Master answered, 
"Who made me a Judge or a Divider over men? 
Beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not 
consist in the things, which he possesses !" And 
having made that statement, which called atten- 
tion to the great law of Humanity,, he proceeded 
to illustrate; in substance he said: The ground 



THE UNIVERSAL LAW 325 

of a certain man brought forth plentifully, and 
the Man said to himself, "What shall I do?"— - 
"Where shall I bestow my fruits and my goods? 
I will build ereater barns and there I will bestow 
my fruits and my goods, and I will say to myself, 
Thou hast much goods laid up for future years, 
Eat, Drink, and be Merry ! But Divine Wisdom 
said unto him, Thou Fool !" 

In the Light of the Real Law, the fundamental 
basis of all civilization and all government, that 
man was a very conceited and selfish fellow. 
My fruits! My Goods! My Barns. He could 
not call down a drop of rain or dew, nor a ray 
of Sunshine ! He could not stay the frost, nor 
beat back the angry blast of heat or cold ! He 
produced nothing! And so far as any Human 
Agency had contributed to the result, it was 
due to those who had toiled, and borne the labor 
and heat of the day to fill his barns. An Egotist ! 
An Ignorant, Conceited, Selfish Fellow; If he 
had know the law, he would have been more 
Just, more Kind, more Generous! He would 
have had no need for larger barns, and the ques- 
tion, Where shall I bestow my goods? would 
never have been asked. 

The Idea that wealth is to be acquired in a 
few years, sufficient for the remainder of life; 
that, by dexterous management, lucky chance, 
or fortuitous investment, the greater part of ex- 
istence is to be exonerated from the cares of 
industry, is a grave mistake. It is opposed to 
all the laws of the universe; and, on occasion, 
the man who planned such an existence was 



326 OUR HERITAGE 

called "Thou Fool !" And yet it seems fash- 
ionable, among a certain class in these days of 
vast private fortunes, to be ashamed of those 
who toil, in the field, in the laboratory or work- 
shop ; at those who go down to the mines in 
skips, or to the sea in ships ; to scoff at labor- 
stained garments, and to sneer at those who 
wear them. It is time that this opproprium of 
toil wert done away. Time, for the idle scoffer 
to betake himself to some field of useful 
endeavor and there, while learning to be a man, 
learn the true dignity of Labor ! What is there 
of permanent value in the world, which did not 
require a just equivalent, either of labor or capi- 
tal, usually of both, for its production? What 
is History but its record? The Pyramids of 
Egypt, the Avenues of Thebes, the Temples of 
Karnac, the Monolithic Obelisks, the Labyrinth ; 
the great cities of Europe ; the buried and long 
forgotten cities of Italy, of Asia Minor, of Mex- 
ico or Peru ; the mighty cities of our own land ; 
the factories, the farms, the irrigation works, 
the vineyards, the canals, the railroads, the tele- 
graph and telephone lines are but the tracks, all 
round the globe, of the mighty footsteps of 
Labor! Without it, Antiquity could not have 
been ; there would be no happy present ; no 
promise of a better, happier, more beneficent 
future. 

As citizens of the United States there is much 
of which we may well be proud. Well may we 
be proud of our beautiful country, of our great 
wealth, of our vast material resources, of our 



THE UNIVERSAL LAW 327 

mighty commerce, of our machinery in the mines 
of Africa and Australia, of our steel rails travers- 
ing the Siberian steppes, of our cotton and flour 
in the Orient, of our growing supremacy all 
round the world. Nevertheless, we are some- 
what boastful. We have ever boasted and pro- 
fessed to be a Christian Nation ; we send our 
missionaries throughout the Globe ; but, seem- 
ingly, we forget that ihe real meaning of that 
expression is Unity. Unity ! The proper rela- 
tion of all things, the common and Universal 
Brotherhood of Man ! From the rolling worlds 
in space to the falling leaf, Unity is the Universal 
Law. The little leaf at the top of the tree, may 
look down to the rootlet, far beneath the sur- 
face of the Earth, and say — "We are one !" The 
spark, struck from the miner's hammer, down in 
the deep chamber of darkness, may flash forth 
to the Great Sun, and say : "We are one !" The 
little water-cup, hid in the crest of the High 
Sierra, may look across to the vast Pacific, and 
say, — "We, too, are one !" All continents and 
islands are one Mother Earth, washed by a com- 
mon sea. All is one. As much so, as Individual 
Personality is one. Truth does not change. 
Everywhere and always, it remains the same. 
Our comprehension of it enlarges, develops, 
unfolds, as the Rose opens to the Dawn; as the 
Vine turns to the Sun ! And the lesson which 
Truth emphasizes in this Age, especially in 
this Country, is the necessity of recognizing this 
Universal law in all our Business, in all our Fra- 
ternal, in all our Industrial pursuits. The capi- 



328 OUR HERITAGE 

talist has been altogether too prone to think 
himself the power which moves the world, 
whilst Labor, or those who have assumed to 
speak for it, has sought to impress this Na- 
tion with the notion that Human progress 
rests upon it, alone. Both are eternally neces- 
sary! Labor of the hands and the brain, com- 
bined with capital, is necessary to true civil- 
ization. Unity of Thought ! Unity of Purpose ! 
Unity of Endeavor ! on the part of all classes of 
our citizens, Men and Women, alike, is necessary 
to the permanent peace and prosperity of this 
Nation. Our Nation, the pride and glory of the 
Ages, is a splendid symbol of this Universal 
Law. Great States, bound together by unseen 
ties ; the ties of a common Humanity, a common 
necessity, a Universal Brotherhood ; this Nation, 
"In spite of rock and tempest's roar, 
In spite of false lights on the shore", 
stands, and under God it will continue to stand, 
a mighty symbol of that Unity, which has been 
so imperfectly described. 

The present Age, more especially perhaps in 
this country, is one of rational utility. Man has 
become powerful in his relation to material 
things. No longer afraid of Nature, he has taken 
such a hold upon her great forces that his power 
as a physical being has been multiplied a thou- 
sandfold; the hand of the child, upon a lever, is 
mightier than that of a Samson pulling down 
the pillars of the temple at Gaza. And doubtless 
we have only passed the threshold of scientific 
discovery. The secret of controlling the great 



THE UNIVERSAL LAW 329 

natural forces was not disclosed to the Ages 
that lived upon the lower, material plane of 
being, and the Trial of Destiny with our Age 
is in using these vast forces for the good of 
Humanity. If steam and electricity, and all the 
varied forms of modern machinery, are to be 
turned into channels of selfishness ; if our great 
industries degrade, rather than elevate; if our 
political life is a mere scramble for spoils, and 
our Liberty a license, they will become but the 
conditions of evil which was impossible during 
the childhood of our race; a sad abuse of all 
these mighty privileges ; a sad commentary on 
our inefficiency, which, under the government of 
the Grand Architect of the Universe, cannot es- 
cape retributive Justice. Power of any kind is 
a sacred trust. If you have great intellectual 
ability, if you have peculiar ability of any kind, 
you cannot even retain it unless you give the 
benefit of its exercise to Humanity. 

And so, by the memory of our inspiring his- 
tory, greater than our written law, grander than 
our accumulated wealth and prosperity, more po- 
tent than our government or any government ; by 
the memory of the Fatherly Washington, and 
the Immortal Lincoln , by the memory of a hun- 
dred battlefields; by the memory of all the crises 
and conflicts of the past; by virtue of the Pres- 
ent, peaceful, prosperous, happy; by virtue of 
those high ideals, which we enthrone for the 
future; in the name of the Myriads who will 
come after us ; as citizens of this Great Republic, 
let us recognize, at once and forever, that the 



330 OUR HERITAGE 

real, permanent, supreme, and fundamental Law 
of this nation is the Golden Rule, "Do unto thy 
neighbor as thou wouldst be done by !" 



VIN AND MARIE 331 

CHAPTER VII. 
VIN AND MARIE. 

More than a year has elapsed since Vin and 
Marie knelt in the presence of the Master and 
received his blessing on their Eternal Union. 
They have known much of happiness. They 
have lost many of their erstwhile acquaintances, 
with whom they never had anything in common, 
and who have drifted away, some offended 
because Vin and Marie have everything - the 
world can give without any advice from them ; 
others were envious because they have Love, 
that inestimable benison which the world cannot 
give. Envy is the malicious foe of Virtue and is 
ever ready to destroy that which it can neither 
imitate nor surpass ; it is the vice of the weak 
and the vain, and the weapon of an ignoble 
mind. There is nothing which the world so 
much envies as genuine happiness and con- 
tentment. 

* * * * 

"Why! You have been crying!" said Vin, 
softly. "What is it? You are always so cheer- 
ful and happy — " 

"Yes, it is foolish !" replied Marie, as she threw 
her arms around his neck, and nestled close 
against his breast. 

"I know it is foolish ! But I have been so 
lonely while you were away today, and baby has 
been fretful too!" 



332 OUR HERITAGE 

"Why, Dearie! That shouldn't make you cry !" 

After a moment's hesitation Marie continued — 

"This morning, just after you went away, 
Tom and Maybelle came to see me. They knew 
you were not at home, they waited around the 
corner until you had taken the car. They wanted 
/ me to leave you ! Maybelle said that we were 
not legally married, — that you had a wife living 
when you married me, — that you had gone to 
Sacramento to meet her, — that you would not 
be home tonight, and maybe not at all ! They 
wanted me to go to Europe with them, and 
never see you again ! I knew it was false ! But 
I have been so lonely, — " 

After a pause, Vin said: 

"So! Maybelle Clairmont would like to make 
you as miserable as she is herself! We might 
expect it from her! But Thomas Clairmont! 
Your brother — " 

"Do not blame poor Tom !" 

"Poor Tom, indeed!" 

"He is so infatuated with Maybelle ! He must 
do as she says! He — " 

"Well, Dearie! Let's forget it! In future we 
will simply ignore them ! It illustrates what we 
have so often said, and what we once suffered. 
There is nothing the world envies so much as 
Love! When once you possess the inestimable 
treasure of Love all the powers of Envy will 
be arrayed against you! 'Those who have been 
your dearest friends will turn against you 
because you have a joy in which they do not 
share, — they will unite with your foes to drag 



VIN AND MARIE 333 

you down from your height of Paradise. The 
coarse and commonplace will be arrayed 
against you — shafts of disdain and ridicule will 
be hurled at your tenderest feelings, — venomous 
lies and cruel calumnies will be circulated 
around you, — all to try and draw you from the 
circle of light into darkness and chaos.' Love is 
Life ! The Soul of all Things ! A possession 
which wealth cannot purchase, which influence 
cannot command ! The key which opens all the 
secrets of Nature ! The Divinity whose power is 
limitless ! A benediction and a benison ! An 
eternal and abiding Joy, which bestows all 
beauty and sweetness of character. Remember 
this ! and never forget how this priceless pos- 
session is envied those who have it, by those who 
have it not!" .... Poor Maybelle Clairmont!" 
murmured Vin. 



THE END. 



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